What We Learned From The Kansas National Championships Beat UNC

David McCormack, their senior rookie center whose career reflected the ups and downs arc of the Jayhawks’ championship fortunes, scored the go-ahead bucket by following his own stride and then – after Armando Bacot, playing on his gimpy right ankle, hit him on the way to the basket – scored again at the post to drive a lead KS to 3 points.

Kansas then had to survive a pair of 3-pointers by Caleb Love and Puff Johnson – and after a turn gave North Carolina one last, and another by Love, the bowler who saved the Tar Heels so much in this tournament, he didn’t come close.

When the bell rang, the Jayhawks stormed the court, and McCormack rushed to scream at the Kansas radio station as scraps of paper began falling from the roof.

The win was the Jayhawks’ first championship since 2008, when they raced past the Memphis in overtime – sent by late Mario Chalmers 3-pointers, a shot that lives on among the school’s rich basketball traditions. It also marks the fifth consecutive year that the top seed has won the title.

The match may have turned on the tender right ankle of the North Carolina center Paco, who had to walk off the field in the semi-final game on Duke and, after slipping while driving to the basket Monday night 50 seconds left, crumpled on the floor in pain. Bakut yanked himself and limped to the defensive end of the court until the play officials whistled dead so he could leave.

It was another sign that Tar Heel, who had been trying to become the number eight seed since Villanova in 1985 to win the championship, gave until they stopped giving. Brady Mannick, who was knocked out with a stray elbow by McCormack, returned to score 13 points and 13 rebounds. And Johnson, the reserve striker, took the charge that left him doubled later, and he vomited on the field.

But without Backout in the game, Kansas took a 70-69 lead, and went straight to McCormack, his 6-foot-10, 250-pound centerpiece, who worked his way past Mannick to put the Jayhawks ahead, 72-69.

Bill Self became the first Kansas coach to win more than one title, and distinguished himself among some of the game’s most famous leaders, from James Naismith—who is credited with inventing the game—to Fogg Allen, after whom Allen Fieldhouse is named, and Larry Brown, the only coach to He won the NCAA and NBA championships.

“Winning when your team had to fight back and come back makes this one of the charts,” Self said. “I thought this was going to be good and it was a lot better than I thought it would be.”

It is not certain if Kansas will be able to defend its crown. The NCAA’s icy judicial process may be nearing a final verdict in a case stemming from a federal bribery scandal, in which five Level 1 allegations have been filed against Self.

Oklahoma State was banned from participating in last year’s championships, and Arizona, Louisville and Auburn imposed self-imposed bans in the aftermath of the same scandal. None of them have been accused of serious abuses like KS.

These questions, though, are for another day.

On Monday night, there was another sparkling finale of Final Four under the roof of the Superdome. Often a boon for North Carolina, who won here in 1982 when Michael Jordan dumped a jacket from the wing, and again in 1993, when Michigan’s Chris Webber called a timeout he didn’t have to make for a Tar Heels victory.

The Tar Heels, who survived an epic battle with the Duke on Saturday and sent rival coach Mike Krzyzewski into retirement, looked ready for another celebration when they bounced back from an early deficit and threatened to send Kansas off the field. North Carolina State’s 38-22 lead with Backout outplayed the Jayhawks center players, McCormack and Mitch Lightfoot, with a foul problem.

It’s fair to wonder if KS sticks pins in a voodoo doll the way its opponents fall. Creighton center Ryan Calkebrenner injured his knee late in his overtime win over San Diego State and missed the Blues’ narrow loss to Kansas. Villanova’s guard Justin Moore ruptured his right Achilles tendon in the final seconds of the win over Houston, possibly helping his defense against Agbagi, who hit his first six three-pointers against the Wildcats in the National Semifinals.

Then Bakut fell to the ground late in North Carolina’s win over the Duke on Saturday night and had to be helped off the bench. He returned with great caution, but announced on Sunday that he was ready. “My situation for tomorrow is ‘I’m playing,'” Bakout said. “My right leg must be cut off so I can’t play.”

Bacot was spot tested by McCormack, a 6-foot-10, 250-pound Jayhawks bull from center. He made his way to the ledge for a basket and stopped Bakut’s first two shots, then lunged to the ground to pounce on a loose ball. Apparently tired of punishing Paco, McCormack leveled Maneke with a stray elbow – all before the match he was five minutes old.

But Paco fixed himself and went from toe to toe, chest to chest, and chin to chin with McCormack, using his sport to annoy the big Kansas man. Bakout finished 15 points and 15 rebounds, becoming the first player to score six doubles in the NCAA Championship.

About everything that went right in Kansas in the latter part of the opening half was banker Remy Martin on 3 Pointers – then shrugged off the CBS announcers as he stepped back in defense. KS walked into the locker room late, 40-25.

“Obviously the coach challenged us,” Agbaji said. “It was covered there.”

The break gave the Jayhawks a chance to gather themselves and come back with renewed determination in defense. North Carolina missed 9 out of 10 shots, and Leaky Black, the top defender in the Tar Heels, made two quick fouls, third and fourth, and went to the bench in 13:52 to play. A moment later, Daguan Harris stripped Davis and made a rebound pass on the break set by Brown, and Jayhawk trimmed their deficit to 1, at 46-45.

As Kansas rallied to lead 56-50, RJ Davis pinned the Tar Heels with a mid-range driving and crossing practice pose. He then drew the defense and landed a hit on Puff Johnson, who drew his triple pointer from the corner tied for Tar Heels, 57-57.

But Martin, the diminutive transfer from Arizona, sank a three-pointer from the corner to give Kansas a 63-60 lead — one of three he’s made in the second half.

Martin was the only addition to the Jayhawks’ rotation a year ago when they were run off the ground by Southern California in the second round of the championship – one of six times in the last 12 championships they failed to survive the first weekend of the championship. Championship as the first four seeded.

Martin’s arrival raised an intriguing question: How might a fifth-year transfer from Arizona, who led a Pac 12 in scoring as a dominant ball-keeper, fit into an attack built on accurate combos and sharp cuts?

“Remy is probably different than anyone I’ve ever trained,” Self said.

And the self was no stranger to what Martin could do. Martin scored 21 points as a freshman in Arizona State’s win at Allen Fieldhouse – one of 10 home defeats in the last 15 seasons for Kansas City. He proved that he was more than just Providence the following season when his last minute jump helped knock Kansas out of their spot as the best team in the country.

A knee injury and hiccups coping with the Jayhawks’ offensive structure and defensive demands made it an uneven season for Martin. But he has found his place as a game-changing sixth man and activating crime as Vinnie Johnson, aptly nicknamed The Microwave. Martin scored 20 points in the win over Creighton and 23 in the win over Providence when the Jayhawks needed his attack to survive.

“We didn’t have anyone who could do a bad attack and take a basketball away, and he’s one of those guys,” Self said.

KS needed all the 14 points it got from Martin off the bench, but there was no shortage of contributors. McCormack had 15 points and 10 rebounds, Galen Wilson was an unknown contributor with 15 rebounds, and Agbaji – named Player of the Tournament – contributed 12 points, along with Christian Brown.

It was enough, just barely, to hold off North Carolina, which sent out wave after wave of rebounds — capturing 24 of its missed shots, including dunking Brady Mannick with 1:41 remaining to put North Carolina ahead, 69-68.

But tar heels – like Baku’s ankle – can no longer hold.