Saturday, April 5, 2008
SAN ANTONIO – For five days, the players watched and read all about North Carolina’s advantages.
How the Tar Heels could run better than anyone else. How Tyler Hansbrough played harder than any player in history.
Photo Gallery
Kansas Basketball vs. North Carolina
Photo gallery of Kansas' Final Four game against North Carolina, Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
Could Kansas handle all that?
“From what I’d seen on ESPN,” senior guard Russell Robinson said, “I guess not. They said Tyler would do this and they would do that.”
As it turned out, Carolina didn’t do much of anything. Kansas beat the Tar Heels 84-66 at their own game Saturday at the Alamodome, running past them at the beginning and end and upsetting the tournament’s No. 1 seed. The Jayhawks play Memphis, which beat UCLA in the other semifinal, for the national championship on Monday.
Kansas showed the nation that Carolina might not have been the best running team within the first few minutes.
Nothing could go wrong for the Jayhawks. Brandon Rush made three-pointers. Cole Aldrich stole a rebound from Tyler Hansbrough then later hit a fadeaway over the Tar Heels’ star.
Carolina didn’t have it so easy. Shots missed everything but the backboard on more than one occasion. Loose balls went into the hands of Jayhawks. One player even got called for a lane violation.
When the players looked at the scoreboard with 6:45 left in the first half, they were on top 40-12. Kansas had made a 25-2 run.
The lead came early though.
“It seemed like the clock was taking forever to tick,” Robinson said.
Carolina made its run and trailed by 17 at halftime and by just four midway through the second half. The comeback got Self to thinking back on his first NCAA Tournament game at Tulsa. His team was up 26 on College of Charleston, which ended up hitting a three-pointer to take the lead with one minute left.
“I still remember watching the tape later,” Self said, “and Al McGuire said it would have been the biggest comeback in NCAA Tournament history.”
The Golden Hurricane won that game. Self made sure his team wouldn’t lose this one.
Sophomore guard Sherron Collins rises up to hit a three-pointer during the second half. Collins' three put the Hawks back up eight after the Heels had cut the lead to just five, with 5:25 to go in the game.
With the Tar Heels down 64-59 near the six minute mark, Self called a timeout and told his players to just relax. Sherron Collins hit a three-pointer on the next possession. Brandon Rush took over the rest of the way, scoring eight of his 25 points in the last few minutes.
Those baskets were on drives to the hoop. He missed more than a few open looks early in the game and changed his approach. Rush finally drove to the basket more often and finished consistently.
“It’s big for me,” Rush said, “but it’s definitely big for us. In order for us to win, somebody’s going to have to step up and make plays.”
With Rush leading the way, Kansas closed on a 20-7 run, sealing a spot in the title game.
"It couldn't have been better scripted," Self said, "because we had to show some toughness down the stretch."
That’s how a team without expectations can play.
The Jayhawks entered Saturday night’s game against North Carolina without a care in the world. Yea, they wanted to win, but this wasn’t like last weekend. Back then, they dealt with playing against Davidson, America’s sweetheart, and Stephen Curry, the face likely to be seen the most times on “One Shining Moment.” They watched the three other No. 1 seeds advance to the Final Four and knew they needed to make it to complete a historical run.
And then there was that thing about Self not making it to the Final Four in his first four previous trips to the Elite Eight.
“People have termed our postseasons as failures,” Self said. “They just felt like something was off their back, and they just played free and easy.”
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