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KANSAS JAYHAWKS REACT TO COMEBACK WIN FOR NATIONAL TITLE | THE KANSAS CITY STAR

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UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS


KU’S COMEBACK IS ONE FOR THE AGES: ‘WE’RE PROBABLY ALL A LITTLE OVERWHELMED AND
SPENT’

By Gary Bedore

Updated April 05, 2022 9:38 AM
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KANSAS PLAYERS TALKED ABOUT HOW THEY PULLED OFF THE LARGEST COMEBACK VICTORY IN
NCAA MEN’S TITLE GAME HISTORY

Kansas players talked about how they pulled off the largest comeback victory in
NCAA men’s title game history during a press conference following their victory
over North Carolina Monday night in New Orleans. By NCAA
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Kansas players talked about how they pulled off the largest comeback victory in
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Kansas players talked about how they pulled off the largest comeback victory in
NCAA men’s title game history during a press conference following their victory
over North Carolina Monday night in New Orleans. By NCAA


New Orleans

Kansas’ men’s basketball team concocted a comeback for the ages in Monday’s
national championship game at the Caesars Superdome.

The Jayhawks, who trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half, rallied to
claim a 72-69 victory over North Carolina.

KU pulled off the largest comeback in a win in title-game history. Loyola
Chicago trailed Cincinnati by 15 points in a 60-58 title win in overtime in
1963. KU on Monday also had the biggest comeback from a halftime deficit in
title-game history.



Kentucky trailed Utah by 10 at the break in the Wildcats’ 78-69 win in 1998.

“I think we’re probably all a little overwhelmed and spent,” KU coach Bill Self
said. “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.”


1 of 45


PHOTO GALLERY: JAYHAWKS BATTLE TAR HEELS FOR NCAA TITLE

Christian Braun and Jalen Wilson celebrate after North Carolina turned the ball
over late in the game. Kansas turned over the subsequent possession, but the Tar
Heels missed a three-pointer to tie, giving Kansas the national title on Monday
night in New Orleans. Rich Sugg The Kansas City Star

In their Elite Eight victory and again in Monday night’s championship game, the
Jayhawks struggled in the first half only to excel in the second. KU trailed
Miami by six points at halftime, ultimately beating the Hurricanes by 26 points
in the regional final.

“It would be special to win regardless,” Self said. “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.”

The Jayhawks didn’t panic at halftime on Monday, down 40-25.

In fact, power forward David McCormack actually was smiling in the locker room
at the break.



“He was looking at me, and I was like, ‘Why are you smiling, dude? We’re down
15,’’’ said KU guard Christian Braun, who scored 12 points with 12 rebounds. “He
was telling me, ‘Keep your head up, keep going, we’ll be all right.’ I was like,
‘Man, I don’t know if I’ve ever been here before. Down 15 in a national
championship game.’ I’ve definitely never been there.”

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Kansas players talked about how they pulled off the largest comeback victory in
NCAA men’s title game history during a press conference following their victory
over North Carolina Monday night in New Orleans. By NCAA

Braun praised McCormack for his play down the stretch, including two big buckets
in the final minute and a half.

“We’re just proud of him and he kept us going,” Braun said, “and then obviously
hit a really big shot.”

Asked about his halftime demeanor, McCormack, who finished with 15 points and 10
rebounds plus a block and a steal, said: “I was in the locker room telling the
guys, ‘Just believe in yourself, have fun with it. It’s our last game
regardless. Do what you need to do because that’s how we got here in the first
place. Don’t doubt yourself.’



“And we came out in the second half. Juan (teammate Dajuan Harris) dictated the
game on defense. Everybody else just followed suit. He’s a floor general. He can
lock up anybody on the court. And he just came out with great energy, and we
followed the same way.”

Harris’ defense was roundly cited by teammates as initiating KU’s comeback in
the final half.

“It was Dajuan. He sparked it in the second half. Coach said it in the locker
room,” senior Ochai Agbaji said. “Just his defensive pressure rubbed off on
everyone else. That’s where we got that momentum from on the defensive end and
everything else fell in place on the offense.”

Asked about his defense, Harris said: “I just wanted to go. I didn’t want to
lose. When I came to college, I came to college with them (gesturing to the
teammates sitting next to him at the podium). I just wanted to give it my all
for them. That’s all it was.”

The Jayhawks trailed in many games this season.



“I would say it kind of just took us back to when we were at K-State,” said
Agbaji. The Jayhawks trailed the Wildcats by 16 points in the first half of a
78-75 KU win in Manhattan.

“The message was obviously different,” Agbaji continued. “Coach, he obviously
challenged us and he was amped up in there (locker room Monday). But it was a
matter of us playing our game and executing in the second half and taking away
what they were getting at in the first half.”

Senior forward Mitch Lightfoot, who had two points and a rebound in seven
minutes, said: “It’s kind of hard to see us get rattled. And I think we bounced
back at halftime. Coach had a great message for us, and he challenged us to be
better and to have more pride. And we did that.”

What exactly was Self’s message at halftime?

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'This is a 2022 miracle': Kansas coach Bill Self in describing his team's
victory in the NCAA title game
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"This is a 2022 miracle," Kansas coach Bill Self said in describing his team's
victory in the NCAA title game over North Carolina Monday in New Orleans. By
NCAA


“There wasn’t much inspiration,” the coach said. “I did tell them before the
half was over, I said, ‘Which would be harder, being down nine with two minutes
left or being down 15 with 20?’ And they all said being down nine with two
minutes left.”

He reminded his players the 2008 national champion Jayhawks had trailed Memphis
by nine points in the title game with just over two minutes to play. And KU won
in overtime.

“So we can do this,” Self recalled telling them, “because that’s the way it was
in ’08. We got three or four stops in a row to start the half. And 15 went to
nine like that (snaps fingers), and it was anybody’s game. It was special how
Juan triggered that to start the second half.”

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Jubilant KU fans celebrate Jayhawks national championship
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Kansas fans celebrated in Allen Fieldhouse after the Jayhawks mastered a
historic come from behind victory to defeat University of North Carolina for the
NCAA National Championship in New Orleans on Monday, April 4, 2022. By Tammy
Ljungblad

This story was originally published April 5, 2022 2:49 AM.



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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GARY BEDORE

twitter email phone 816-234-4068
Gary Bedore covers all aspects of Kansas basketball for The Star — the current
team as well as former players and coaches and recruiting. He attended KU and
was born and raised in Chicago, as well as Lisle, Ill.




READ NEXT


UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS


KU FANS OVERJOYED WITH JAYHAWKS’ NATIONAL TITLE VICTORY OVER NORTH CAROLINA TAR
HEELS

By Bill Lukitsch

Updated April 05, 2022 1:22 PM
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Fans of Kansas Jayhawks men’s basketball team arrived at Allen Fieldhouse and on
Mass Street to watch the team face the Tar Heels in the NCAA championship game.
They did not leave disappointed.

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