Andrew Ortenberg
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Whew. What a game. The National Championship certainly lived up to the hype, with the Kansas Jayhawks ultimately outlasting the North Carolina Tar Heels by a final score of 72-69. Kansas started off terribly, but completed a miracle comeback to give Bill Self his second national title.
It was a heartbreaking end to North Carolina’s incredible run, and blowing a 15-point halftime lead is going to be a tough pill to swallow for many years to come. Before we turn our attention to next season, here are our couple biggest takeaways from the game:
UNC chokes massive lead
This one is going to sting for a while. The Tar Heels absolutely dominated the first 20 minutes of the game. They had Kansas on the ropes and led 40-25 at halftime. At the break, you could’ve gotten the Jayhawks as around a +360 money line underdog to win. Then they came out firing as soon as the second half started.
David McCormack and Christian Braun both had double-doubles, and Remy Martin hit some massive threes off the bench. While UNC did have the game in their grasp and let it slip away, there’s no reason for them to hang their heads. They didn’t play like it for one single second, but they were an 8-seed, and it’s a massive accomplishment that they were even in this position.
Armando Bacot gutted through an ankle injury that was clearly bothering him to play 38 minutes and haul in 15 rebounds. North Carolina racked up 24 offensive rebounds, which kept them in the game and also tells you everything you need to know about their heart.
After 14 years, Kansas is celebrating another championship. They trailed by as much as 16, and ended up pulling off the biggest comeback in National Championship history. It was a fitting end to an amazing tournament. It even served up one last bad beat…
Kansas -4 bettors have the real heartbreak
The only people sadder than North Carolina fans are those who had Kansas -4. The Jayhawks were up three and had the ball with less than five seconds left, and it looked like UNC was about to foul and put them on the line for free throws to cover the spread. Then Dajuan Harris stepped out of bounds while collecting an inbounds pass.
It ensured the Tar Heels got one last shot attempt, and that they’d be able to cover the spread as underdogs. As for the total, it stayed under comfortably. Oddsmakers were expecting a fast-paced shootout, with the total settling around 152.5. The game ended up falling at 141.
North Carolina shot only 31.5 percent from the field and 21.7 percent from beyond the arc. According to DraftKings’ internal numbers shared with us, 64 percent of the bets were on Kansas -4 and 71 percent of the bets were on the over, so it sounds like the sportsbooks cleaned up.
The public will get ’em next time. That’s all for us as we wrap up this college basketball season. It sure was a wild ride, and thank you for reading a lot. Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened…
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