The story goes on under the ad The championship was the second for Bill Self, the first to arrive 14 years ago in San Antonio. In that title game, the Jayhawks were nine points behind Memphis with 2:12 remaining ahead of the rally to tie Mario Chambers’ three-pointer and then win in overtime. He himself sought this memory at halftime when talking to his players. “I asked them, ‘What do you think is more difficult, to stay under nine to two minutes to finish or to stay down at 15 to 20 minutes?’ he said. “Everyone said it was down to nine or two minutes to finish.” The story goes on under the ad But now, the end is finally visible and could affect the national champions. Kansas is accused of five major breaches of NCAA rules. Penalties can range from suspension with a blow to the wrist for Self to interruption of the program from next season’s tournament. The last NCAA champion is not allowed to go for two in a row? Kansas, 1989. These Jayhawks were disqualified from the game after the season for offenses committed by Larry Brown, who coached his team to the national title in 1988 and then left for the NBA. Roy Williams was left to face penalties in his first season. The only team to be stripped of the league is Rick Pitino’s 2013 team in Louisville. The banner that Kansas won Monday night will not go down: The alleged violations took place before any of last season’s players got involved in the program. The story goes on under the ad There was certainly no mention of anything from that Monday night. For a few hours, the Tar Heels and the Jayhawks made everyone remember that, as Tony LaRussa once said about baseball, “the game is better than all of us.” Obviously, coach Hubert Davis and his players did not see it that way. They knew if they wanted to finish this season with absolute joy, they had to win one more. The story goes on under the ad The Tar Heels made it 16-0 at the end of the first half to take a 38-22 lead, with Brady Manek, Oklahoma’s sixth transfer of the sixth year, closing the wave with a pair of three from the left. . Armando Bacot, the 6-10 rebound machine that made the ankle late in Duke’s game, dominated the interior. He finished with 15 points and 15 rebounds in 38 minutes. At that stage, Kansas was the team that looked without gas. Center David McCormick had foul problems and the outside shots did not find their place. This was not a nice game. The winning team shot 29 of 66 from the field and was out, 55-35. But the losers were 23 of 73 from the field, including a horrible 5 of 23 in three-point attempts. The Carolina Guards, so crucial in the five wins that led them to Monday night, could not find the range for the last time. “We were really attacked, aggressively and defensively in the second half,” said Davis. “We made sure nothing was easy for us.” The story goes on under the ad In fact, nothing was easy for either team. After the 16-0 wave, Carolina prevailed 34-12 bridging the two halves. From there, the teams reached the goal. It is worth noting that, after an overwhelming home defeat by Duke on February 5, the Tar Heels were 16-7, and fans on social media boards were calling for Davis to lose his job. From there, North Carolina won 13 of its next 15 games, including two huge wins over Duke, and Davis lost one win to become the second coach in history to win the title in his first season. Steve Fisher of Michigan took over Bill Frieder at the start of the 1989 tournament and won six consecutive games and a championship. Even after Monday’s defeat, there will be no calls for Davis to oust Tar Heel fans. Kansas also stumbled over the winter, mostly in a humiliating 80-62 loss to Kentucky at home on Jan. 29. The Jayhawks lost two games entering March before finishing the season with 11 consecutive wins. Prior to the final, they had won tough tournament games against Creighton and Providence and won by a 35-29 deficit in the regional finals against Miami, beating the Hurricanes 47-15 in the second half to win, 76. 50. The story goes on under the ad Their outburst against Carolina in the title game was, in its own way, more impressive due to the opponent, the stage and the bets. Kansas took the last two baskets of the season and won the last and most important titles of a tournament that was full of emotions. Carolina made an amazing show until the end. Krzyzewski’s departure was bittersweet: a record for the 13th trip to the Final Four but a disastrous defeat by his side’s original opponent just before the finish line. The Big Ten once again spits out the track. St. Peter gave hope to all the underdogs and literally danced their way into the hearts of the people. And, as always, the tournament helped us forget the problems of the sport. Now that the season is over, we will remember them again very soon.
