David McCormack went into Kansas’ locker room at halftime of the men’s basketball national championship game smiling at his teammates. They were down 15 points. McCormack’s teammate, Christian Brown was confused.
“I was like, why are you smiling, dude? We’re down 15,” Braun said. “He was telling me, keep your head up, keep going, we’ll be all right. I was like, man, I don’t know if I’ve ever been here before. Down 15 in a national championship game. I’ve definitely never been there.”
McCormack was able to back up his confidence by converting the two biggest baskets of the contest for the Jay Hawks, helping them to overcome a 16-point first half disadvantage, to beat the North Carolina Tar Heels, 72-69, Monday night. This was the program’s fourth national title and the first in 14 seasons.
The 16-point hole was the largest comeback to win in NCAA championship history. It surpassed the previous record of 15 points set by Loyola Chicago in 1963 against Cincinnati.
The concept about North Carolina coming out flat after their highly emotional game over Duke seemed to be accurate in the opening minutes. Kansas started the game on a 7-0 run with two of their Saturday key contributors, Ochai Agbaji and McCormack. Agbaji hit a triple to start the game and McCormack was making his presence felt on both ends of the floor, even beating North Carolina big man Armando Bacot to a loose ball by hustling on the floor.
Bacot, who suffered an ankle injury late in the second half of Saturday’s game, started to show some signs of life. He hit a jump shot and assisted a Leaky Blake layup two possessions later, after he and R.J. Davis rescued the ball from going out of bounds. Remy Martin’s bank shot from downtown, gave the Jay Hawks an 18-14 lead, with just under 10:30 left in the first half. North Carolina went on a 25-7 surge to end the first 20 minutes of play, leading 40-25. Kansas made just three field goals during that span, making 4-of-14 layup attempts.
According to the NCAA, North Carolina’s 15-point edge at the break was tied for the fourth-biggest halftime lead in championship history. It ended up being the largest halftime deficit overcome in a national title game.
Kansas came out of the locker room inspired, with McCormack depositing a dunk on the Jay Hawks opening possession. After two Caleb Love field goals pushed the lead back up to 12, Kansas went on a 12-1 run to get within one.
The Jay Hawks were finding success in transition, thanks to four Carolina turnovers in the first eight minutes of the second half, while also forcing North Carolina into tough, contested shots and getting log rebounds. Kansas had six points on fast-break opportunities after getting only two in the first half.
An Agbaji three-pointer play, with 10:53 left, knotted the score at 50 and Kansas extended its lead to six after a Martin three and a Jalen Williams three-point play.
North Carolina responded with sparingly used bench player Puff Johnson, who knocked down a three to tie the score at 57. At one point in the half, he scored seven straight Tar Heel points.
Kansas was also led by a reserve in Martin. He was tentative early on, but made his presence felt in the final 20 minutes. He scored 11 points after halftime, including three 3-pointers and three go-ahead baskets. At this point, whichever team made the final run was going to win the championship.
McCormack hit a jump hook with 80 seconds remaining, to give Kansas a one-point edge. On the Tar Heels next possession, Bacot attempted to drive past McCormack, but reinjured his ankle and had to leave the game. With Bacot out, McCormack hit another jumper with 22 seconds left, to push the lead to three. Love and Johnson had their chances to tie the game, but came up short as time ran out.
The championship is Bill Self’s second as Kansas head coach. His first came in 2008. The Jay Hawks Agbaji took home Most Outstanding Player honors.
Roy Williams, 71, who was the previous coach for UNC, had nothing but praise for the Tar Heels coach Hubert Davis.
“I just think Hubert is perfect for the job,” Williams told USA Today on Sunday. “He’s the nicest person I’ve ever known but then he’s also fiercely competitive. When you put those two together, it’s a pretty good mix. It’s why I asked him to join our staff. But he hasn’t just had me as an influence. He had Coach (Dean) Smith, Don Nelson, and Pat Riley from when he was a player. He’s got all of us, but then found a way to make it his. “So this run, he’s put his fingerprints on it. It’s his team. He’s put Hubert Davis’ stamp on North Carolina basketball. He’s been absolutely sensational.”
Williams also spent 15 seasons as the head coach of the Kansas Jay Hawks, which had him somewhat conflicted, but stated it is still an “easy decision” to root for the Tar Heels.
