Kansas reaches final with win over North Carolina
By J. BRADY McCOLLOUGH
The Kansas City Star
KU?s Brandon Rush had something to celebrate Saturday ? but North Carolina coach Roy Williams (right) didn?t.
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SAN ANTONIO | They heard the comparisons all year. It was the 20th anniversary of 1988, of Danny and the Miracles, and this year?s team was sure to be really good. But those comparisons, until the Final Four was set, never involved the word underdog.
But that?s what the Kansas Jayhawks were when they took the floor Saturday night against the tournament?s top seed, North Carolina, and national darling Tyler Hansbrough. The question was, what happens when you give a team loaded with NBA talent like the Jayhawks an underdog label in the biggest game of their lives?
The answer: A masterpiece. An 84-66 Kansas victory over former KU coach Roy Williams? Tar Heels. A game so lopsided by the end that Jayhawks coach Bill Self got to empty his bench and play his walk-ons. It worked in ?88 when sixth-seeded KU beat Duke and Oklahoma in the Final Four ? and it worked again two decades later in the Alamodome on a lesser scale.
?Everyone said we?re an underdog,? KU guard Sherron Collins said, ?but we didn?t come in thinking we?re the underdog. We came in expecting to win, and that?s what we did.?
Kansas, which was a shell of itself a week ago in the Elite Eight win over Davidson, was relaxed and ready to seize the moment in San Antonio.
?Davidson game, it was so much pressure,? KU guard Russell Robinson said. ?Coach Self trying to get to his first Final Four. Davidson was the Cinderella of the tournament. All the No. 1 seeds had already made it. In this game, all of that was gone. We got by the tough part. This is the easy part.?
The Jayhawks, 36-3, made it look that way most of the night. They will meet fellow No. 1 seed Memphis in the national championship game on Monday night, their first title bout since 2003 when KU lost to Syracuse. It would be ridiculous, of course, for the Jayhawks to play the underdog card again after this one. After all, the secret is out: This collection of Kansas players brings it against top competition.
?Last year we came out and played great against Florida,? KU sophomore Darrell Arthur said. ?This year, we?ve been wanting to play North Carolina since November. All the guys were pumped to play.?
There were hints all week that KU guard Brandon Rush was going to play his best game ? the laid-back junior actually snapped at a teammate at practice. Rush saved all his energy for North Carolina on Saturday, though, with a game-high 25 points and seven rebounds.
The parallels to KU?s 1988 run have been eerie ? starting with the Jayhawks? road to the Final Four, which also went through Nebraska and Michigan ? and the similarities continued in San Antonio when Rush played the role of Danny Manning. When North Carolina pulled within four at 54-50, Rush scored on a layup. When the Tar Heels cut it to six at 67-61, Rush again went to the hole for two.
?In order for us to win,? Rush said, ?someone was going to have to step up and make some big plays for us tonight.?
Rush?s bucket started a 13-0 run for the Jayhawks, the third and most crucial run of the game for both teams.
Kansas won the first 15 minutes by a whopping margin of 40-12. Down the street from the Alamo, KU drew a line in the sand from the opening tip. If Ol? Roy?s team was going to beat the school he coached for 15 years, the Tar Heels were going to do it with an elbow in the back and a hand in the face.
The Jayhawks simply wouldn?t let them do anything. Not until the first 15 minutes were up. North Carolina started making the shots it was missing and won the next 17 minutes by a score of 41-18. The Tar Heels trailed just 58-53 at the 8-minute mark.
?It seemed like the clock was taking forever to tick,? Robinson said.
KU won the last eight minutes 26-13, and that was that.
They outrebounded the Tar Heels 42-33 and held Hansbrough to 17 points on six-of-13 shooting.
Can they do it once more?
?This is what you live for,? Robinson said. ?You gotta have faith.?
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