The Kansas Jayhawks are the national champions of college basketball and made history when they beat the North Carolina Tar Heels in the national title game on Monday night. Kansas rallied from a 16-point deficit to beat North Carolina 72-69. As mentioned by CBS Sports, the comeback by the Jayhawks is the largest in a national championship game. The last comeback that big was when Loyola-Chicago rallied from 15 points to beat Cincinnati in 1963.
“I think we’re probably all a little overwhelmed and spent. And I don’t know that I’ve ever had a team flip the script like we have probably in the NCAA Tournament, whether it be Miami in the Elite Eight or whether it be this game,” Kansas head coach Bill Self said after the game, per 247Sports. “But it would be special to win regardless. But to win when your team had to fight and come back the way they did and show that much grit makes this one off the charts. I thought this would be good. And this is a heck of a lot better than I thought it would be.”
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At the start of the game, Kansas jumped out to an early 7-0 lead but was outscored 40-18 over the rest of the first half. The second half saw the Jayhawks go on a 31-10 win leading them to get past the Tar Heels and win their fourth national title in school history. Jalen Wilson and David McCormack led Kansas with 15 points each while Christian Braun recorded 12 points and 12 rebounds.ย
North Carolina’s magical run to a national title ends in disappointment but it was still a strong season for first-year head coach Hubert Davis who took over for Roy Williams, a coach that won three national titles at North Carolina and led Kansas to two national championship game appearances. The biggest highlight for the Tar Heels is beating arch-rival Duke in the Final Four and ending Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s career with a loss.ย
“I said before that I can’t remember a time in my life where I should be disappointed, but I’m just filled with so much pride,” Davis told reporters after the game, per 247Sports. “I’m so proud of these guys of what they have done for themselves individually, as a team, the way that they have represented our university, this program, our community.”
