Comeback Kansas Captures Crown

There were two minutes and twelve seconds left in the national championship game in San Antonio, and Memphis had a nine point lead on Kansas and were well on their way to their first ever title. But then a funny thing happened, and it all fell apart for John Calipari’s Tigers. The nightmare ending didn’t finish until the buzzer sounded and the Jayhawks emerged in a 75-68 overtime classic at the Alamo Dome. In my last column, I wrote that Memphis’ free throw shooting “will cause their premature exit from the dance no matter how hard Calipari tries to spin their dangerous deficiency.” In the regular season, Memphis was 339th out of the 341 Division I teams in free throw shooting percentage. But then a funny thing happened along the way, and the Tigers started shooting for an excellent percentage from the charity stripe over the course of the tournament. With their biggest weakness seemingly non-existent, Memphis vanquished fantastic guard oriented teams in Michigan State, Texas, and UCLA on their way to Monday night’s title match with Kansas.
The backcourt duo of Derek Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts seemed unguardable in the games preceding the championship game, but for much of the game Kansas put the clamps on the freshman phenom Rose. Sherron Collins did a fantastic job on Rose for much of the game, as he seemed passive before he took the team on his back in the second half. The Jayhawks did most of their damage in the paint for much of the game, as Darrell Arthur had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Sasha Kaun had 11 points off the bench. Their dominance in the paint, coupled with the solid defense on Rose were the major reasons why Kansas led by five at halftime.
As the second half began, Memphis went on a run to tie it and then began to take control of the game. The Tigers defense began to clamp down on defense inside, and then the future top five pick Derek Rose caught fire. He scrapped the passive style he employed in the first half and began using his immensely talented skillset to hit shots from the outside (even without the help of a ballscreen) and knife his way through the lane to score lay-ups and get to the line. They also got good performances from Douglas-Roberts, whose scored a game high 22 points and Robert Dozier got his production inside with 11 points and 10 rebounds. At one point, Rose scored 14 of Memphis 16 points they had during a stretch, and has banking jumper (correctly called a two rather then the three point shot they had originally deemed it) that went in with 4:15 left and the shot clock towards zero. That gave Memphis a 56-49 lead, and when the Tigers led 60-51 with 2:12 remaining, the prevailing thought that John Calipari and Memphis would hit their free throws and capture their first national championship. But then the sequence began that made this game one of the all time tournament classics. Kansas coach Bill Self realized that they only way his team would get back into the game was to foul Memphis and hope for the best. It was the last strategy that the Jayhawks had, and it didn’t look good considering that the Tigers had shot so well from the line during the tournament. But the worst fears of the Memphis fans began to be realized as shot after shot clanked off the rim, and the Jayhawks found themselves down only three with no time outs left and 10.8 seconds to play, and Kansas could have been winning if not for some poor block outs along the way that allowed Memphis to get offensive rebounds and waste more time off the clock. Rose and Douglas-Roberts missed four of five free throws over the last 1:12, and then Kansas brought the ball out with 10 seconds to play. As Sherron Collins brought the ball past halfcourt, the Tigers failed to foul him like Calipari had wanted, and then Mario Chalmers drained one of the biggest shots in tournament history to tie the game and send it into overtime, the first extra session title game since Miles Simon and Arizona upset Kentucky in 1997. The colossal 2nd half collapse ultimately was the end for the Tigers, because they looked deflated, as Kansas was upbeat and elated. The momentum at that point was irreversible, and Calipari put it best after the game:
"Ten seconds to go, we're thinking we're national champs, all of a sudden a kid makes a shot, and we're not," That “kid” Chalmers scored 18 points in the game, and hit the shot that will "probably be the biggest shot ever made in Kansas history," according to his head coach Self, who denied a rumor that he will leave the school to go to conference rival Oklahoma State.
The overtime period then seemed like a formality as Kansas scored the first six points of OT en route to their seven-point victory, as the buzzer sounded and “Rock Chalk Championship” was proclaimed by CBS broadcaster Jim Nantz, coronating the Jayhawks as national champs.
"We fought it out, and it's surreal.” Said KU Center Cole Aldrich. “It’s nuts.” In a tournament lacking a signature, great game this one provided that in as big of a way imaginable. It was one of those games that will be talked about for years to come, and Calipari and co certainly won’t forget it. It was the perfect storm of colossal collapse, clutch shots, and fantastic coaching by Self. It certainly was a great sendoff to a memorable college season, and games like this are part of what makes College Basketball my favorite sport, and in the final game of March Madness, it could not have been any better.