The Kansas Jayhawks have won their fourth NCAA title. In the final against North Carolina, a comeback after 16 points behind was necessary.
Kansas Jayhawks (1) – North Carolina Tar Heels (8) 72:69
After the euphoric victory over arch-rival Duke in the semi-finals, the underdog UNC took a lot of momentum and played a dominant first half. Shortly before the break, the Tar Heels were unstoppable and broke away, with 40:25 it went into the dressing room. But in the second half it was time for the Jayhawks.
“Today we obviously had big problems in the first half,” said Kansas coach Bill Self, who won his second title. “But the boys gave everything.”
Thanks to David McCormack (15 points, 10 rebounds), Jalen Wilson (15) and Remy Martin (14), they were able to quickly open up the game again, then it went back and forth until the final minutes. With 1:21 left, it was McCormack who jumped his team to a 70:69 lead. A minute later, he followed up with a hookshot over Brady Manek for the final score.
“When we needed a basket, we went to Big Dave and he delivered,” said Self.
UNC didn’t manage to counter in the final minutes. The last four throws all went wrong, including the potential buzzerbeater to equalize from this time disappointing guard Caleb Love (13 points, 5/24 FG). Overall, the second half ended 47:29 for Kansas.
Kansas can finally forget 2020
North Carolina narrowly missed out on a seventh NCAA title, which might have been their most unlikely. Only in 1985 had an 8-seed won March Madness, back then it was Villanova. But in the end they weren’t lucky. The ailing Armando Bacot (15 points, 15 rebounds) gritted his teeth and became the first player ever to play a double-double in all six tournament games. In the closing minutes, however, the Big Man limped off the court and was unable to continue, eliminating the best defender against McCormack.
RJ Davis (15, 12 rebounds) and Brady Manek (13 and 13) also had double-doubles, Puff Johnson contributed 11 points from the bench. UNC got a whopping 20 more rebounds (55:35), but only hit 31.5 percent of his throws. With the Jayhawks it was at least 43.9 percent.
In addition to McCormack, Ochai Agbaji (12) and Christian Braun (12, 12 rebounds) also delivered, the latter scoring 10 of his points in the second half. The Jayhawks were finally able to compensate for not being able to crown their season with a title as the top favorite in 2020 due to the corona pandemic. At that time, for the first time in history, no NCAA tournament had taken place.
Seven players from that roster were there to reclaim the college basketball crown once and for all. “This is a special group of guys,” Agbaji said. “We’re going down in history!”