Kansas made the greatest comeback in National Championship history to stun the United Command and win its first title since 2008.
Lots of people went to bed at the end of the first half of the National Championship game after North Carolina had a 40-25 lead over Kansas with the Jayhawks in full swing. The 35-14 streak allowed Tar heels to build a 16-point lead in the first half but the Jayhawks came out of the break with a 31-10 push of their own to move back forward. In the end, Kansas held on to a three-point win To secure their first national title since 2008.
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The competition wasn’t always quick all the time, but Kansas coach Bill Self made some crucial locker room tweaks to change the pace of the game. The Jayhawks came out of the break on a more aggressive tone, managing to pace the transition and capitalizing on a strange change in game-plan from North Carolina who gave up their long low game at the start of the second half.
Highlights of the national championship match
The effort was excellent early on from North Carolina, which overtook the Kansas business after some early tensions. This play saw four different types of tar heels touch a basketball to get a hard-earned bucket.
Brady Mannick also caught fire early on, knocking out three straight throws as part of a 13-point night to help North Carolina build a big lead early on.
The low point for Kansas came right before the first half, when they failed to clear Buff Johnson in the last shot of the first half. Johnson’s insistence earned him two major points and raised the UN leadership by 15 points at the break.
The Jayhawks came off the break, however, with a 20-6 run to cut the deficit to one. This transition ball from Christian Brown exemplified the big change in pace for KS.
After what seemed like forever, KS finally regained the lead in this third corner from Remy Martin. The Jayhawks got 14 off the bench from Martin, who scored 2,000 points in the game.
North Carolina did not quit, however, and returned to the fight after a huge second half in Kansas. Manek’s dip here did raise the tar heel once less than two minutes ago.
Kansas’ last four points came from David McCormack, who turned that set against Maneke after Armando Paco went down with an ankle injury to put Jayhawks down for good.
Three takeaways from the national championship match
3. The balanced KS score made the difference
Five different players scored in the Jayhawks’ double figures, holding their titles by 15 points each for Jalen Wilson and McCormack. This all-out effort made up for some shaky moments from Ochai Agbaji, who missed five free throws and went 4 for 9 just off the ground.
The Kansas champions of late were Martin, who had some clutch shots, and McCormack down. McCormack took advantage of his size over Mannick in the closing minutes to secure Kansas points for the win.
2. North Carolina moved away from Bakout too quickly
The Tar Heels dominated the first half of the match thanks in large part to the efforts of Bacot, who secured his record 31 double this season by the first half. Bacot’s rebound helped make a huge difference for the Tar Heels, who had an 18-2 advantage on second-chance points when they hit the changing room.
It was bizarre to see North Carolina give up their home attack early in the second half, contenting themselves with contested shots in the periphery while four players lined up outside the three-point line on several occasions. This change made it easier for the Jayhawks to get more bounces and push the pace of the transition, which proved to be the turning point in the game.
1. Kansas made the biggest comeback in national championship history
The Jayhawks looked dead in the water at halftime after trailing 15 and playing with no fire. Just as they did in the first half of the regional final against Miami, Kansas completely overturned the script after the break, controlling the last 20 minutes to help Self secure his second National Championship.
This victory was also historic for the Jayhawks, who dropped 16 times at one point in the first half, making their biggest comeback in the history of the national title game. Self modifications made a huge difference in KS and they now have a place in the history books for that win.
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