- Ky McKeon
Webster’s Dictionary defines “basketball” as a game played with a bat and ball between two teams of nine players each on a large field having four bases that mark the course a runner must take to score. Tonight, we forget all about definitions and constructs and clearly defined lines and enjoy the culmination of the greatest sport on the planet.
The Tar Heels from Chapel Hill look to add to the storied 8-seed history in the NCAA Tournament. Villanova won in 1985 as an 8. Butler and Kentucky lost in the title game in 2011 and 2014, respectively.
Kansas looks to win its 4th NCAA Tournament title. The team featuring a made-up bird as its mascot is 3-6 in NCAA Tourney title games, 1-1 under Bill Self.
Pre-game Spectacle
There’s nothing like standing on a Final Four court in the center of the most gigantic stadium in the entire known universe. The Superdome roof looks like a UFO as seen by farmers in the wheat fields of central Kansas.
There’s not a good seat in the house, but both student sections are out here in full force, drunk, holding signs, and ready to party.
Fan split favors Kansas – the roars of the crowd backup the eye test – but you better believe the North Carolina Tar Heel faithful traveled well. 70,000+ strong.
Loser goes home. Winner claims rights to Roy Williams forever.
The Game
First Half
UNC center Armando Bacot’s ankle was the main story heading into this game. Bacot went down with a gruesome turn late in the Duke contest and admitted he was uncertain if he could return. “F it”, said Bacot and went back into the game. He was clearly limping pre-game in the hallway and in warmups. His explosiveness on dunks in the layup line wasn’t there and he was attacked early by Kansas big David McCormack.
After a slow start, Bacot proved he’s just one bad mother**ker and went to work. Bacot’s nose for the ball is unbelievable, and he used that nose to find rebounds in the first half like Toucan Sam uses his to find Froot Loops. Bacot posted a double-double in the first half with 12 points and 10 boards
KU jumped out early and built a 7-0 lead. McCormack hit some tough shots, although for the life of me I cannot figure out why Big Dave fades away instead of going up strong. You’re huge, young man!
As he often does, Brady Manek aka Larry Bird Jr. got UNC on the board first, knocking in a triple before taking a brutal unintentional elbow from McCormack to the dome. Despite staggering to the floor and looking dazed, Manek stayed in and scored 9 first half points.
At the under-16 timeout Kansas held a 9-3 lead, and frankly I thought we were on our way to a Jayhawk rout. Then UNC turned on the gas.
The Heels battled back and took their first lead on the back of Bacot free throws. The charity stripe was a primary source of scoring for UNC in the first half, as they shot 13/16 from the line compared to KU’s 3/4 clip. UNC guards Caleb Love and RJ Davis got off to slow starts, and Kansas held a 15-12 lead midway through the first.
Despite a Remy Martin banked 3, which was a microcosm of how disgusting his shot attempts looked in the first half, UNC controlled the rest of the half. Davis scored six points over the next couple minutes, his patented tough jumpers finally falling. UNC turned up the temperature of the defensive water sitting on the stove and sent it boiling out of the pot. KU was held scoreless for just under two minutes heading into the under-8 timeout, and the Heels continued to exert their will on the glass.
KU forward Jalen Wilson had an awful first half. He blew by Bacot a few times on switches and had a handful of layup looks and open shots, but he just couldn’t convert. Wilson was 1/6 from the floor in the first.
The final four minutes of the half started sloppy. Four straight turnovers combined by the two squads set the tone. KU tied the game up at 22 before Larry Bird Jr. hit another 3. KU wouldn’t score again for a while as UNC built a 10-0 run and went into the under-4 timeout ahead 32-22. Ochai Agbaji and Christian Braun have been quiet as church mice (the quietest of all mice) during this half.
It was more UNC in the final four minutes of the half. Manek owned Braun defensively, blocking him twice and sticking on him like a glove. UNC’s defense continued its stopping prowess, disallowing any KU consistent scoring. Bill Self resorted to his bench to close the half, giving Jalen Coleman-Lands and KJ Adams. Hubert Davis gave Justin McKoy his courtesy one minute of action.
Puff Johnson grabbed a board and stuck it back in to send the game into the half. UNC led 40-25 and looked fully in the driver seat. The Heels out-rebounded the Hawks 27-18 (8 to 4 on the offensive glass). The scary part for Kansas – Caleb Love didn’t do anything in the first. He was held to four points on just 1/6 shooting.
Second Half
Everyone in the building knew Kansas wouldn’t go quietly into the night, but few likely expected the second half beatdown the Jayhawks put on the tar-stained Heels. McCormack rattled the rim with a thundering jam following Love’s third turnover of the game on the other end. That spurred a quick 6-0 KU run, which extended into an 8-2 run to pull the Jayhawks within 8 at the under-16 timeout. During the opening four-minute stanza Manek picked up his third foul, KU ramped its pressure up and forced turnovers and finally started hitting shots. The Jayhawks were 6/11 out of the second half gate; the Heels just 2/9.
The next four minutes brought more foul trouble to UNC. Leaky Black, the Heels’ lockdown wing defender picked up his 4th foul on an Agbaji drive. Agbaji lived at the line early in the second but struggled to convert. At one point the eventual Most Outstanding Player was 2/7 from the stripe.
UNC’s sloppy play continued. The lid that was firmly on the Heels’ basket to start the game was back on the other basket in the second. Turnovers plagued the Heels, much of which can be credited to how Dajuan Harris defended at the point of attack. After a 16-5 KU run to start the half, McCormack cut the lead to three with a bucket. Braun followed that up with a steal and layup, sending the crowd into a tizzy. The family section directly next to the Weave’s lone courtside seat (sup) was LOUD cheering on their favorite team. At the under-12 timeout UNC led by just one point. The Heels were just 3/16 from the floor versus KU’s 10/16. The Jayhawks led the second half 22-8.
Puff Johnson was immense in the second half for UNC. When Black went out of the game with four fouls Johnson stepped up in a major way, scoring a flurry of tough buckets including a nasty layup and a three and picking up a key charge. Puff was playing so hard at one point doubled up on the floor and spewed a little on the court. Unfortunately, Garth from Wayne’s World wasn’t there to provide him a small paper cup.
Despite Puff’s heroics, KU’s comeback could not be stopped. Another Agbaji and-1 tied the game for the first time in years at 50 and later a Remy triple gave the Hawks their first lead in decades. A 9-0 run over 45 seconds put KU up 56-50. The fullcourt pressure implemented by the Jayhawks had a noticeable effect on Davis and Love.
At the under-8 the score was tied at 57. Love was still MIA, but he was in the back of everyone’s minds heading down the stretch. Irrational confidence players with the ability to break games are always a threat to score whether they are 10/10 or 0/10.
Remy gave KU a three-point lead out of the timeout and Puff continued balling out for the Heels. Love couldn’t buy a bucket and Bacot drew McCormack’s 4th foul. KU took a 4-point 65-61 lead into the under-4 timeout. The Jayhawks totally flipped the script at the free throw line, shooting 10 second half FTs up to this point in the half versus UNC’s two. The Heels were just 22% from the floor in the second.
Bacot and Manek tied the game at 65 with four combined free throws, but Remy was there once again for Kansas with an answer. He hit yet another trey-bomb, pushing KU’s lead back to three.
Then tragedy struck Carolina. Bacot, He-Man Warrior, slipped on a loose(?) floorboard and rolled his injured ankle again. With his wheel completely shredded, the star center was forced out of the game for the final two-ish minutes. Manek was forced to shift to the 5, which turned out to be bad news when McCormack converted an easy hook in the lane to push KU’s lead back to three.
UNC had a few looks from deep, but the attempts fell short. Love just couldn’t get anything going, once again dropping down the decline on his roller coaster season. KU had the ball up three with just four seconds. A foul was inevitable, and the game was likely over. But Harris stepped out of bounds as he brought the ball up the floor. UNC would have one more shot to tie the game and send the championship into overtime. Unfortunately, that shot went to Caleb Love. He missed another 3, finishing the game 1/8 from deep. As the buzzer sounded KU players jumped for joy and rushed to the sidelines to beat their chests and celebrate victory.
Blue and red confetti rained down upon the heads of the players. The Jayhawks were presented with the NCAA Championship trophy, Ochai Agbaji (not David McCormack for some odd reason) was named MOP of the Final Four. KU cut down both nets and walked off the floor champions of the world.
Personal Section
Middle school Ky would have peed his pants for this matchup. He grew up a Kansas fan, attending basketball camp there for both Roy Williams’ final season and Bill Self’s first season. He loved UNC as well because all kids love UNC.
New Orleans was an incredible city for the Final Four. Everything was walkable, the weather and food was divine, and Bourbon Street was, well, Bourbon Street. We at the Weave were thrilled to cover the event and look to forward to notching many more marks into our media belts.
Bonus Section
We only had four block/charge calls all game: three charges, one block. I would say 75% of them were correct. Good job, refs.
We only had two reviews all game. Again, good job refs.