Kansas vs. North Carolina: Reactions from an epic Kansas comeback (2024)

The No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks are the men’s national champions, defeating the No. 8 North Carolina Tar Heels 72-69. Kansas overcame a 15-point deficit at halftime, the largest in national championship history, to capture its first NCAA Tournament title since 2008.

David McCormack had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Jalen Wilson added 15 points while Ochai Agbaji and Christian Braun contributed 12 points each. Remy Martin came up big off the bench, dropping 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting from deep.

Armando Bacot paced the Tar Heels with 15 points and 15 rebounds. R.J. Davis also had a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Caleb Love and Brady Manek each scored 13 points, with Manek chipping in 13 rebounds.

The victory gives Kansas its fourth national championship in program history and the second for Bill Self.

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(Photo: Isaiah Vazquez / NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

NEW ORLEANS — They all stood paused in purgatory, living between what could be the best and worst moments of their lives. Kansas basketball was about to win a national championship, as long as it didn’t hand it away. As long as it didn’t let North Carolina take advantage of the mistake it just made. As long as it didn’t let Dajuan Harris’ foot go down in basketball infamy.

Inside that lengthy huddle, Harris stood with his mouth ajar. His eyes looked elsewhere. Everybody around him was talking, and Harris seemed bewildered. How did that even happen? It all was going to plan. The Jayhawks had done everything right to win this game. Just make the free throws, and it would all be over, right? With 4.6 seconds remaining and a 72-69 lead in the national championship game, Kansas ran an inbound play to Harris. He cut around one screen, forced the Tar Heels to switch defenders and caught them sleeping with daylight in front of him.

But Harris stepped out of bounds.

“We screwed it up,” Kansas assistant coach Norm Roberts said. “We ran the perfect play, but he stepped out.”

NEW ORLEANS — Even at the very end, Bill Self was trying to corral Remy Martin, to put him back in the box of acceptability. There were still 4.3 seconds left, after all, and North Carolina was North Carolina, which is to say it wouldn’t just stop playing because the probability of a win suddenly seemed low. This thing was far from over. It turned out Self was right — there was one more twist left, when Kansas turned the ball over trying to inbound it on the sideline nearest to him, giving these irrepressible Tar Heels one last chance to do one more incredible thing. But for now, with Kansas up three and in possession of the ball, Martin was starting to think the national title was won. As most of KU’s players came together near the bench, Martin wheeled back and away, turning to the Kansas fans behind him, grabbing his uniform, flexing, pointing to the floor, you know the drill.

Self’s eyes nearly rolled out of his head. “Get your ass over here!” he screamed, as Martin, only modestly chastened, skipped back toward the bench. “Save that for after the game.”

There it was, really: the full Remy Martin Experience after the full Remy Martin experience, the perfect little coda to this most mercurial of Kansas Jayhawks careers. Martin had just shot Kansas back into a game it trailed by 15 at halftime, had just given his coach a perfect half of offensive basketball, had just been one of several key differences in the brilliant second half that delivered Self his second national title. Martin had been as good as advertised when he arrived at Kansas as a former Arizona State star and super senior on a team with massive aspirations. He had just delivered on all of the promise that his decision to transfer to Lawrence implied in the first place. He had done everything he’d been asked, and that he asked of himself.

NEW ORLEANS — A brand new national championship hat perched on his head and the confetti still freshly fallen at his feet, Ochai Agbaji sprinted down the steps of the elevated Superdome court and over to the railing where the Kansas fans crowded around for pictures. He looked only upward, motioning with his hand to call to his family to come down to see him. “No, no, come here,’’ he said, a smile spreading on his face. “Come here.’’

One by one they arrived — first his father, Olofu. “You did it, boy. You did it.’’ Then his mother, Erica. “You’re a champion,’’ she said, her voice rising with the final word, equal parts elation and disbelief. “You’re a champion.’’ And finally his sister, Orie, the only one crying. She just wrapped her baby brother in a bear hug, her parents joining in for the family squeeze.

Someone behind Agbaji suggested he make his way back on the court, towards the stage for the trophy presentation. Only then did Agbaji reluctantly separate himself from his family, his own eyes wet with tears. “I love you guys,’’ he said as he returned to the court.

Kansas has one of the greatest pregame hype videos in college basketball, but it hasn’t really changed in years. It all leads up to “The Shot” by Mario Chalmers that sent the 2008 national championship game against Memphis to overtime. Jeremy Case, a fifth-year senior on that team, is now a 37-year-old assistant coach on Self’s staff, and in recent years, the video has turned a little stale for his tastes.

“2008 was so long ago,” he said the day before Kansas beat Villanova in the national semifinals. “We got to quit talking about it. It’s like, we still talking about 2008? Damn. They’re still showing that video? It’s time. We got to get another one.”

The urgency was evident this week from Self, who openly talked about the fact that Kansas has banged on that door too many times to have only one national championship to show for his time in Lawrence.

Kansas' Ochai Agbaji is the 2022 NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player. He finished with 12 points, three rebounds, an assist, a block and a steal during the 72-69 win over North Carolina on Monday night, after lighting up Villanova for 21 points (6-of-8 FG, 6-of-7 3PT, 3-of-4 FT) on Saturday night.

Jayhawks big man David McCormack was tied for the team-high with 15 points, and scored a combined 40 points in two games. He also had 10 rebounds on Monday.

For all his consistent excellence, building a perennial power in the Big 12, Self has had some real stinkers in the NCAA Tournament. Seven first- and second-round exits as a top-four seed. Half a dozen times failing to reach the Final Four as a No. 1 seed.

But this one erases a lot of those stings. Self and the Jayhawks just completed the biggest comeback (16 points) in championship game history. Kansas 72, North Carolina 69 gives Self his second national championship and KU its sixth (four NCAA, two Helms titles). Self is just the 16th Division I men's coach to win at least two titles.

Remy Martin (Arizona State) hit a ridiculous 3-pointer (his fourth of the night) to give Kansas the lead. Brady Manek (Oklahoma) answered with a clutch put-back to give UNC the lead on the other end. Martin has 14 for the Jayhawks. Manek has 13 and 12 for the Tar Heels.

We have a one-point game in the final minute.

Kansas 65, North Carolina 63, 3:45 to go. The good news for UNC is Puff Johnson has played absolutely out of his mind off the bench (now 11 points, six rebounds in 17 minutes). The bad news: Johnson went down moments ago, clutching at his chest and seeming to struggle to catch his breath. He's on the sideline now and Leaky Black (just two points) is back in with four fouls.

KU center David McCormack just picked up his fourth foul too. Remy Martin has been a major spark for the Jayhawks down the stretch. He has eight of his 11 points in the second half. He's hit 3 of 5 3s tonight. Down the stretch they come.

North Carolina led by 16 points. Now it's all gone, and then some. No team has ever come back from more than 15 down to win a national championship game. Kansas is trying.

Jayhawks 56, Tar Heels 50, 10:08 to go. KU has outscored UNC by an astounding 31-10 margin in the second half.

The Jayhawks are in the midst of a 22-8 run and don't look interested in slowing down. UNC's lead is down to just one.

Tar Heels up 48-47 with 11:36 left.

These two teams have traded some brutal cold spells. North Carolina started 4 of 17 from the field. Kansas then hit just 3 of 16 to close the first half. And now the Tar Heels are 2 of 13 to open the second half. Yuck.

Just like that, a 15-point UNC halftime lead is down to one, 46-45, with 12:41 to go. The Jayhawks, led by eight points in seven second-half minutes from Christian Braun, are shooting 60 percent since intermission. They're on a 12-1 run.

Black takes a seat after picking up his fourth foul on Ochai Agbaji. Kansas came out of halftime attacking the paint and it's worked thus far. They'll need to connect from the free-throw line.

UNC clings to a 46-45 lead with 12:41 left