For sports fanatics, fair-weather fans and basketball novices, Monday night’s NCAA Championship game proved to be a thrilling battle of the two best teams in college hoops.
All of the top four seeds in the tournament (of 64 teams) met in the Final Four for the first time in NCAA tournament history. Kansas beat North Carolina, jumping to a 40-12 lead in the first half and Memphis routed UCLA 78-63. UNC rallied to within five points of Kansas in the second half, but the Jayhawks held them off with composed play in the closing minutes securing a solid 84-66 victory.
Memphis has looked strong as a team all season. Going into the championship, they had only one loss and were picked by many to claim the national championship from Kansas on Monday night. However, Memphis faced some challenges.
Kansas stud guard, Mario Chalmers, sank a three in the final seconds of regulation play, sending the game into overtime. With Memphis’s star player Robert Dozier fouled out of the game, the Jayhawks dominated the overtime, winning 75-68. Chalmers, who rescued Kansas from sure defeat, was reported to have been in the Alamodome four years earlier as a spectator and said that he would win a national title. His teammates, along with poor free throw shooting by Memphis, who missed 3 of 4 crucial free throws in the last minutes of the game, were a big help to Chalmers.
So for those of you who were glued to your TVs for the last two and a half weeks hoping to win with your bracket, or for those who couldn’t give a damn and are tired of hearing about March Madness, the Kansas Jayhawks have been crowned the National Champions.
Time for baseball!
Clutch moment for Kansas wins NCAA tourney
