No two schools have met each other in the Final Four more times than the two competing in the national title game.
The Kansas Jayhawks and North Carolina Tar Heels know each other all too well, as the game was the 12th meeting between the two teams, now tied 6-6 after the Jayhawks took home their fourth national title in the 72-69 win.
Dubbed the “Roy Williams Bowl” as the now retired head coach spent time as the head coach of both programs at one time, the national title game was full of suspense as both teams held leads that changed by the minute.
Meeting again for a rematch of the 1957 NCAA title, here are the takeaways from the latest meeting between the Jayhawks and Tar Heels.
UNC’s first-half 180
Watching the first five minutes of the game, it already looked like the Jayhawks had the title on lock, scoring 11 points and keeping the Tar Heels at bay offensively, but as UNC started to find their flow on the glass, and the Jayhawks couldn’t make shots fall, the game started to take a different path.
Ochai Agbaji, Kansas’ largest scoring threat in the half, was heavily guarded by Rechon “Leaky” Black, who allowed him only eight points in the half, and while David McCormack tipped in another six points, the Jayhawks were 10-of-33 from the floor shooting just 30 percent.
While the Tar Heels didn’t seem to be much better, shooting 12-of-33 in the half, there were two key areas where they managed to find the most success – the free throw line, and second chances.
Going to the line for a total of 16 shots, North Carolina shot 81 per cent from the line, netting 13 of those shots, but their real impact was made in the way they managed to find the net after a missed shot.
Scoring 18 second chance points in the half, UNC dominated when it came to offensive rebounds grabbing eight, and out-rebounding the Jayhawks 25-18 in total, with Armando Bacot accounting for 10 of the rebounds in the half.
Paired with their stellar defence that put immense pressure on Kansas, UNC turned the game around and picked up momentum that was too much for the Jayhawks to stop before going into the break.
A Kansas free throw from Agbaji with just over two minutes to play in the half broke a 16-0 UNC run, one that allowed them to lead by 15 at halftime on an 18-3 run as the halftime buzzer went.
Big men make big plays
Bacot tied the single-season record for double-doubles in NCAA history with 12 points and 10 rebounds by halftime, and his efforts paired with Brady Manek’s on both sides of the floor proved exactly why the Tar Heels big men were the biggest keys to success in the first half.
Scoring a double-double in every game of the tournament, Bacot made history as the only player to ever accomplish such a feat in the Big Dance.
Manek contributed nine points and four rebounds in the first half, but also helped fuel the Kansas comeback as he shot all his baskets from beyond the arc, shooting 60 percent on five three-point attempts.
The other big man also made history becoming just the second player to hit three triples in all six games of the NCAA tournament.
He, like all the Tar Heels on the floor, also played immaculate defensively and even accounted for two blocks in the half as well as three of his four rebounds coming off the defensive glass.
With 21 of the Jayhawks’ 40 first half points coming from the two big men, they not only controlled the offensive charge and pace of the game but also kept the intensity defensively to ensure that the lead they worked hard to get was sustainable.
It’s not over until it’s over
Just as it looked in the first five minutes for Kansas, and again how it looked at halftime for UNC, the national championship was the story of a game never quite being a write off until the final buzzer.
Just as UNC had done the half prior, Kansas went on a scoring run of their own in the first nine minutes of the second half, outscoring the Tar Heels 22-8 and cutting a 15-point deficit to just one with 11 and a half minutes to play.
An and-one for Agbaji tied the game 50-50 with just over 10 minutes to play in the game, as both Jalen Wilson and Christian Braun stepped up for the Jayhawks in scoring while the Tar Heels started to miss shots on every play while Kansas started to fight for boards.
A 9-0 run put the Jayhawks up by six at the halfway point of the second half, but two minutes later the game would be tied 57-57 with eight minutes to play as UNC started to find an offensive hustle again while also playing tough defence.
Tar Heels guard Puff Johnson, brother of Phoenix Suns forward Cameron Johnson, helped UNC in their rhythm, scoring seven points in a row and finishing the night with 11 points and six rebounds.
Remy Martin picked up the intensity for Kansas, scoring 14 points including 12 from three-point range, and also playing hard defensively until the final buzzer that kept Kansas ahead just enough to pick up the win.
With 1:41 to play in the game, a match that seemed so lopsided for each team at different points became a one-point lead as the Jayhawks trailed 69-68.
McCormack’s physicality in the paint scoring back-to-back shots helped the Jayhawks reclaim the lead once again, leading by three with four seconds to play which would seal the game 72-69.
Offence wins games, defence wins historic championships
Just as the South Carolina Gamecocks had shown on the women’s side the night before, Kansas showed why defensive intensity is the key to winning a national title.
The largest deficit overcome in national championship history down by as many as 16 in the first half, Kansas scored 47 second half points to win the second title of Bill Self’s tenure as the head coach of the men’s basketball team.
Self also joined Jay Wright and Rick Pitino as the only active men’s basketball head coaches to win two NCAA titles with his win.
The Jayhawks are now tied for sixth-most NCAA titles all time as they claimed their fourth title, despite only advancing to their first title game in a decade. Kansas’ last appearance in a title game was in 2012 against Kentucky.
Five scorers tallied 12 or more points in the win, with McCormack finishing with a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds while Braun also finished with the same feat, finishing with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Despite their offensive rhythm, it was holding North Carolina to 28 per cent shooting and never allowing anyone to shoot over 40 per cent against them in the tournament that helped them complete their comeback and win a title. Even when players like Manek finished the game with a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds, he was held to just four points in the second half.
While Bacot was also held to three points and five rebounds in the second half – though an ankle injury caused an early exit – even a double-double from RJ Davis for the Tar Heels of 15 points and 12 rebounds wasn’t enough in the dying minutes as the Jayhawks continued to mount the pressure in a back and forth second half.
