Kansas overcomes 15-point halftime deficit against North Carolina to win fourth national championship
Final: No. 1 Kansas 72, No. 8 North Carolina 69
After trailing by 15 points at halftime, No. 1 seed Kansas rallied back with an impressive second half to beat No. 8 seed North Carolina, 72-69, to win the Jayhawks' fourth national championship and the second of coach Bill Self's tenure, joining Kansas' 2008 championship squad.
The Jayhawks' offense came alive as they scored 47 points after halftime, with starting forward David McCormack scoring the team's final four points, including the go-ahead bucket to make it 70-69. The second one put Kansas ahead by three, after North Carolina's Armando Bacot had to be helped off the floor with an apparent right leg injury.
McCormack finished with a team-high 15 points, tied with Jalen Wilson. McCormack, who also had 10 rebounds, and Christian Braun (12 points and 12 rebounds) each had a double-double.
There was some late drama, as Kansas guard Dajuan Harris Jr. stepped out of bounds in the final seconds — 4.3 to be exact — with Kansas up three as he tried to avoid North Carolina's efforts to foul him and extend the game. The play was reviewed, time was added back on the clock and North Carolina took a 30-second timeout.
SIGN
— Andy Wittry (@AndyWittry)
North Carolina leads 69-68
Kansas leads 63-61 with 4:23 to play
It's all tied at 57
Remy Martin's corner 3-pointer from the right corner put Kansas ahead 53-50 and the Jayhawks extended their lead to 56-50 on Jalen Wilson's and-one finish through a foul by Bacot. RJ Davis quickly answered for North Carolina with four consecutive points on a driving layup around David McCormack, followed by a short, pull-up jumper to the left of the lane.
North Carolina tied the game at 57 on a 3-pointer late in the shot clock by Puff Johnson, the team's top reserve, who then drew a charge on Ochai Agbaji. There's 7:48 to play, with the national championship on the line.
Kansas cuts North Carolina's lead to 46-45
Kansas cuts North Carolina's lead to 45-37 on Jalen Wilson's layup
By the first media timeout of the second half, Kansas has nearly cut North Carolina's lead in half, from 15 points at halftime to just eight, 45-37, with 15:40 to play in the second half. The Jayhawks opened the second half with an alley-oop from Dajuan Harris Jr. to David McCormack, the latter of whom was limited to 10 minutes in the first half after picking up two fouls.
Christian Braun made back-to-back layups, Jalen Wilson benefited from a narrow goaltending call against Brady Manek, and then Wilson scored threw a block call against Manek, with the free throw coming after the timeout.
Halftime: No. 8 North Carolina 40, No. 1 Kansas 25
North Carolina entered halftime with a 15-point lead as No. 1 seed Kansas was left searching for answers, with both of its primary big men¸— David McCormack and Mitch Lightfoot — dealing with foul trouble and North Carolina's Armando Bacot posting a first-half double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, his sixth double-double of the NCAA tournament, a new record.
Lightfoot picked up three fouls in six minutes of action, while McCormack had two in 10 minutes, and North Carolina reserve Puff Johnson, the team's sixth man, had as many rebounds (four) as McCormack and Lightfoot had combined, in half as many minutes (eight).
Kansas guard Ochai Agbaji hit a rhythm 3-pointer on the game's opening possession but scored just five points after that. He took five shots in the first half — fewer than McCormack (seven), Christian Braun (seven) and Jalen Wilson (six), despite Braun and Wilson making just one each. Eventually, Agbaji went to the basket and drew a second foul on North Carolina's standout defender Leaky Black, who hasn't left Agbaji with much breathing room from outside after Agbaji made six of his seven 3-point attempts against Villanova.
Halftime: No. 8 North Carolina 40, No. 1 Kansas 25
North Carolina entered halftime with a 15-point lead as No. 1 seed Kansas was left searching for answers, with both of its primary big men¸— David McCormack and Mitch Lightfoot — dealing with foul trouble and North Carolina's Armando Bacot posting a first-half double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, his sixth double-double of the NCAA tournament, a new record.
Lightfoot picked up three fouls in six minutes of action, while McCormack had two in 10 minutes, and North Carolina reserve Puff Johnson, the team's sixth man, had as many rebounds (four) as McCormack and Lightfoot had combined, in half as many minutes (eight).
Kansas guard Ochai Agbaji hit a rhythm 3-pointer on the game's opening possession but scored just five points after that. He took five shots in the first half — fewer than McCormack (seven), Christian Braun (seven) and Jalen Wilson (six), despite Braun and Wilson making just one each. Eventually, Agbaji went to the basket and drew a second foul on North Carolina's standout defender Leaky Black, who hasn't left Agbaji with much breathing room from outside after Agbaji made six of his seven 3-point attempts against Villanova.
North Carolina's lead grows
North Carolina leads 22-18 at under-8 timeout
Kansas takes 15-12 lead into under-12 timeout
Armando Bacot's leg is healthy, or at least healthy enough, as he finished a missed RJ Davis 3-point attempt with not so much a tip dunk as it was a layup with an extended follow-through, where he was fouled by Jalen Wilson. Bacot's free throw attempt had just enough oomph to bounce once and in the iron to give the Tar Heels their first lead of the night, 12-11.
Kansas guard Christian Braun answered with a layup to return the lead to the possession of the Jayhawks and Kansas backup big man Mitch Lightfoot made a turnaround jumper to give his team a 15-12 lead that they took into the under-12 timeout.
Kansas jumps out to 9-3 lead
Through the opening three-plus minutes of the national championship game, Kansas has picked up against No. 8 seed North Carolina with where it left off against No. 2 seed Villanova in the national semifinals: with Ochai Agbaji hitting from 3-point range and David McCormack doing work in the interior.
The Jayhawks led 9-3 at the time of a video review with 16:46 to play in the first half after Agbaji curled around the top of the key for a 3-pointer on the game's first possession, followed by a pair of McCormack jumpers.
Danny Manning, Paul Pierce are in attendance
When Kansas and North Carolina meet for the national championship, there are bound to be some notable former players in attendance. Former Kansas great Danny Manning, known for helping the Jayhawks winning the 1988 national championship as the leader of the "Danny and the Miracles" team that was a No. 6 seed, is in the Caesars Superdome on Monday night.
Another former Kansas star, Paul Pierce, made his way down the Kansas fan section behind the team's bench, drawing a standing ovation from Jayhawks fans.
The question remains: Will Michael Jordan attend the game, 40 years after he helped the Tar Heels win the national title in the Superdome?
Starting lineups announced
The starting lineups for the 2022 NCAA men's basketball tournament's championship game have been announced. North Carolina junior forward/center Armando Bacot will start, which was expected after the comments Bacot and North Carolina coach Hubert Davis made to the media after Bacot briefly left Saturday's national semifinal against Duke with an apparent injury.
No. 1 seed Kansas
G DaJuan Harris Jr.
G Ochai Agbaji
G Christian Braun
F Jalen Wilson
F David McCormack
No. 8 seed North Carolina
G RJ Davis
G Caleb Love
F Leaky Black
F Brady Manek
F/C Armando Bacot
This group of 10 players represents the tallest set of starters in the men's basketball national championship game since 2017, as "small ball" has recently become more popular in the sport. This year's starters are tied for the 16th-tallest average height among national championship starters since the first NCAA tournament in 1939.
Looking back at the 1991 Final Four, North Carolina's Hubert Davis wants revenge
Take a trip back to 1991, when North Carolina and Kansas faced off in the Final Four. The Jayhawks went on to win that matchup, 79-73, but it didn't come without its drama — UNC's head coach Dean Smith landed two technical fouls resulting in an ejection after Rick Fox fouled out.
It was a game full of emotion, current head coach Hubert Davis told reporters on Sunday — a game that sticks with him to this day.
"Prior to us winning the national championship in 2017, from 1991 to 2017, I had watched that game at least once every year," Davis said. "It would make me cry."
That particular North Carolina roster was loaded. Rick Fox carried the squad averaging nearly 17 points a game, with Davis slightly behind scoring 13.3 points an outing. The Tar Heels also had George Lynch, Pete Chilcutt and King Rice also making solid contributions.
Davis didn't pull any punches when looking back at that squad on Sunday.
"It's the best team that I ever played with, with King and Rick and Pete Chilcutt as the seniors and George Lynch, we were as connected as this team is connected now," Davis said. "And we really felt like we had a chance to win the national championship and we came up short.
"And that was the toughest loss that I've ever experienced in my entire life."
Being to the Final Four as a player is one of Davis' fondest life memories — an experience he wants his players now to soak in now, but also get the job done.
"One of the things I told the guys before we — I think it was before we came to New Orleans, I know it was during the NCAA tournament — I said the best experience is tears," Davis said. "But I've told them this — the best experience that I have had as a player, hands down, was going to the Final Four."
UNC's Armando Bacot, Brady Manek, Caleb Love and company will be hoping for tears, but for tears of joy on Monday night when they fight for the ultimate prize against the same team that brought their head coach tears of sorrow for so many years in a row.