Kansas Wins Men’s NCAA Basketball Championship, Knocking Off North Carolina 72-69

Topline

The No. 1 seed Kansas Jayhawks defeated the No. 8 seed North Carolina Tar Heels 72-69 to win the NCAA men’s basketball national championship Monday night, claiming the fourth men’s title in the University of Kansas’ history and its first since 2008.

Key Facts

After falling behind by as much as 16 in the first half, the Jayhawks outscored the Tar Heels 47-29 in the second half and completed the largest comeback in college championship game history, at one point going on a 12-1 run.

Five Jayhawks scored in double-figures, with senior forward David McCormack leading the team with a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double.

Junior guard and NBA prospect Christian Braun tallied 12 points and 12 rebounds in the win.

Hall of Fame head coach Bill Self claimed his second NCAA championship for Kansas, returning to the promised land for the first time since 2008, when the Jayhawks defeated the Memphis Tigers 75-68 in overtime.

Key Background

Monday night’s win caps off a 34-6 title run led by Braun and senior guard Ochai Agbaji, both of whom are projected to be selected in the first round of the 2022 NBA Draft this summer. Kansas was dominant for much of the 2022 tournament, defeating three of its previous five opponents by double digits, including Sunday’s 81-65 victory over No. 2 seed Villanova in the Final Four. For Self, the win marks his second championship with Kansas in four Final Four appearances.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/masonbissada/2022/04/04/kansas-wins-mens-ncaa-basketball-championship-knocking-off-north-carolina-72-69/