By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher
The 2022 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament was a tail between two halves. The North Carolina Tar Heels were the better team in the first half.
However, the Kansas Jayhawks showed amazing patience to come back. The Jayhawks won the contest with a 72-69 score at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana on Monday night.
Kansas had the largest comeback in NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament history. They overcame a 15-point lead at halftime to win their fourth National Championship in school history.
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This is the Jayhawks’ second National Championship since the 2007-08 season. Kansas head coach Bill Self is the first head coach in program history to win two National Championships.
Larry Brown and Phog Allen also won National Championships as Jayhawks head coaches.
Tar Heels star Caleb Love — who had an amazing NCAA Tournament — was not able to come up with another heroic shot late in the contest. Love missed the three-pointer in the final moments and that gave the Jayhawks the title.
The momentum went the Jayhawks’ way when Armando Bacot — who had injured an ankle on Saturday against the Duke Blue Devils — left in the game with less than a minute left in the contest. The Tar Heels looked out of sync once he left the court and appeared to be pressing.
At that point, the Jayhawks were leading by just one point. On the following possession, David McCormack posted up Brady Manek — who transferred to North Carolina this season after playing against Kansas numerous times in the Big Ten Conference with the Oklahoma Sooners — to put Kansas up three points.
Love was not able to come up with the aforementioned game-tying shot. The Jayhawks then celebrated another National Championship.
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McCormack and Jalen Wilson led the Jayhawks with 15 points each. McCormack also had 10 rebounds, one steal, and one block; while Wilson also added four rebounds and one block.
Remy Martin — who transferred to Kansas in the off-season after beginning his career with the Arizona State Sun Devils — had 14 points off the bench. He made some key shots in the second half to aid in their comeback.
Bacot and R.J. Davis led the Tar Heels with 15 points each. Bacot also had 15 rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one block. Davis also had 12 rebounds and two assists.
North Carolina — who only played two bench players — was led by Puff Johnson with 11 bench points.
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