The Jayhawks won 72-69 in New Orleans after falling 16 points down and then mounting the greatest comeback in any national championship game. Coach Bill Self said he had no “magical” words at halftime with his team behind by 15, other than to tell the Big 12 champions they still had plenty of time.
“This team has been down before, and at halftime, I asked them, ‘Would you rather be down 15 with 20 minutes remaining or down 9 with two minutes remaining?'” said Self, addressing the Superdome audience, referring to Kansas’ thrilling victory in the 2008 national championship game, in which the Jayhawks trailed Memphis before rallying.
David McCormack made the final two goals for Kansas in the final 1:21, giving his team a one-point lead at 70-69 and then adding another jumper for a three-point cushion. Caleb Love of North Carolina, the hero of his team’s semifinal victory on Saturday, missed a potential game-tying jumper at the buzzer.
“It’s painful for us to have gone this far and come up short in this manner, after everything we’ve been through,” Love told reporters. “However, there is one positive: I would not want to go through this with anybody else.”
It was Kansas’ fourth NCAA Division I championship, matching Connecticut’s four titles and topping UCLA (11), Kentucky (8), North Carolina (6), Duke (5), and Indiana (4). (5). UNC has now lost six championship games. The Tar Heels are tied with Kansas and Duke for the most runner-up finishes.
