KAnsas won its fourth NCAA men’s college basketball national title on Monday by defeating North Carolina 72-69 in the final after trailing by 16 points in the first half. This is the biggest comeback in an NCAA men’s final in history. The previous record was 1963 in the final when Loyola Chicago beat Cincinnati after trailing by 15 points.
David McCormack (15 points and 10 rebounds) was fundamental in the close outcome of the match for Kansas, in which Jalen Wilson (15 points), Remy Martin (14 points), Christian Braun (12 points and 12 rebounds) and Ochai also stood out. Agbaji (12 points), ultimately chosen as the best player in the Final Four.
Armando Bacot (15 points and 15 rebounds), RJ Davis (15 points and 12 rebounds) and Brady Manek (13 points and 13 rebounds) were North Carolina’s best.
Kansas began commanding and overwhelming North Carolina’s attack with its defense (11-4 with 15:35 remaining). However, North Carolina reacted with the help of Armando Bacot to tie the game (22-22 with 6:08 left).
Two 3-pointers by Brady Manek launched North Carolina even more, intractable in those last six minutes of the first half with a crushing 3-18 run against a Jayhawks without answers. The Tar Heels went on to win by a maximum of 22-38 and reached halftime with a comfortable lead (25-40) thanks mainly to their mastery of rebounding (18-27) and second-chance points (2-18). .
Kansas had no time to waste after the restart and, greatly improving their defense and running on the counterattack, they struck fear into North Carolina’s body (38-45 with 15:40 to go). The Jayhawks continued to row strongly, with Christian Braun and David McCormack pulling the cart, putting even more pressure on a stiff Tar Heels (45-46 with 12:07 remaining).
With the game totally even until the final stretch, Armando Bacot sprained his ankle in the last minute and had to leave the game, David McCormack landed two providential hooks for Kansas and Caleb Love missed the triple that would have forced overtime.