In this year's NCAA tournament, Kansas had trailed at halftime just once. In the Elite Eight against Miami, the Jayhawks came back from a six-point halftime deficit to win. They scored 47-15 in the final 20 minutes of the game.
After that game, Bill Self told them they needed to play better.
He might have used the same speech from a week ago.
In the national championship game, Kansas overcame a 15-point halftime deficit to beat North Carolina 72-69.
The program has not won a national championship since 2008.
After a turnover by North Carolina gave Kansas a one-point lead, David McCormack hit a jump hook with 22 seconds left to push the lead to three.
Brady Manek missed a pass after an offensive rebound rolled out of bounds. Dajuan Harris Jr. stepped out of bounds with 4.3 seconds left after catching a Kansas inbounds pass.
Love had a 3-pointer in the final seconds.
There were concerns about North Carolina coming out flat after the win over Duke. The Jayhawks scored the game's first seven points, with two Saturday stars carrying their momentum over. Agbaji hit a 3 to start the game, and McCormack was making an impact at both ends of the floor, even beating Bacot to a loose ball by diving on the floor.
This was the title to lose, because of the 9-3 start and Bacot's labored movement.
That was the last time the Jayhawks had any kind of energy in the first half.
Bacot, who suffered an ankle injury late in the second half of Saturday's game, started to get loose and come to life. He had a jump-hook coming out of the under-16 timeout and assisted a Leaky Black layup two possessions later after R.J. Davis and Bacot saved the ball from going out of bounds.
Carolina looked more comfortable at both ends of the floor. The early success began to hit a wall. Kansas wanted to get him a post touch nearly every possession, but Bacot was holding his ground and forcing him to score over him or through traffic. Black has been one of the tournament's best defensive players, and Agbaji struggled to get clean looks against him.
The Tar Heels dominated the offensive glass. They had five offensive boards and 12 second-chance points, which helped get them into foul trouble.
The Jayhawks took an 18-14 lead on a banked 3-pointer by Remy Martin, but the Tar Heels came back to take a 25-7 halftime lead. The Jayhawks made just three shots from the field over the course of the half and only made four layup attempts.
The first half came to a close with Carolina leading by 13 but in a play indicative of the first half, Puff Johnson grabbed an offensive rebound and laid the ball in as the first half came to a close.
According to the NCAA, North Carolina's 15-point edge at the break was tied for the fourth-biggest halftime lead in championship game history.
Kansas came out in the second half on a tear, with McCormack dunking it on the Jayhawks opening possession. The Jayhawks went on a 12-1 run to get within one after the two Love buckets. It could have been worse for the Tar Heels. Agbaji made just one of his five free-throw attempts after being foul by Black on back-to-back possessions.
The Jayhawks were doing well in the open floor. In the first eight minutes of the second half, North Carolina turned it over four times and Kansas had six fast-break points after only two in the first half.
The game was tied at 50 with 10:53 left and Kansas took a six-point lead after a three-point play by Martin and a three-point play by Wilson.
The unlikeliest of players highlighted Carolina's response. Puff Johnson, who scored eight points over the last four games, buried a corner 3 off a Davis drive to tie the game at 57. With Black on the bench, Davis needed someone from the Tar Heels to step up and make plays at both ends of the floor, and Johnson did that. He scored seven straight Carolina points in the second half.
This was more than just a typical college basketball game. The game was filled with punches, counterpunches, game-changing haymakers and more punches and counterpunches.
The national championship is in the balance.
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