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Kansas Beats Memphis, Wins NCAA Title
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Missed free throws and a clutch three-pointer helped Kansas make a late comeback and win the NCAA Championship Game 75-68 in overtime.
30-Second Summary
All year Memphis shot free throws poorly and all year coach John Calipari said it didn’t matter. For 39 games, he was right. In the 40th game, however, it cost the Tigers the national championship.
Up by nine points with just over two minutes left, Memphis was in position to win its first national title. But a costly turnover and four missed free throws gave Kansas a chance to come back.
In the end, it was two of Memphis’s more reliable free-throw shooters—Chris Douglas-Roberts and Derrick Rose—who missed with the game on the line. In the final minute and a half, they combined to miss four out of five shots, including the front end of a one-and-one.
Kansas guard Mario Chalmers took advantage, hitting a game-tying three pointer with 2.1 seconds left. According to Calipari, his team tried to foul before the Jayhawks could attempt a shot.
Kansas dominated the shell-shocked Tigers in overtime to win its third national championship.
Up by nine points with just over two minutes left, Memphis was in position to win its first national title. But a costly turnover and four missed free throws gave Kansas a chance to come back.
In the end, it was two of Memphis’s more reliable free-throw shooters—Chris Douglas-Roberts and Derrick Rose—who missed with the game on the line. In the final minute and a half, they combined to miss four out of five shots, including the front end of a one-and-one.
Kansas guard Mario Chalmers took advantage, hitting a game-tying three pointer with 2.1 seconds left. According to Calipari, his team tried to foul before the Jayhawks could attempt a shot.
Kansas dominated the shell-shocked Tigers in overtime to win its third national championship.
Headline Links: Kansas celebrates, Memphis sulks
The Lawrence Journal-World reports on the joyous Jayhawks, celebrating “Mario and the miracle.”
Source: Lawrence Journal-World
The Commercial Appeal in Memphis covers the Tigers’ “epic collapse.”
Source: The Commercial Appeal
Opinion & Analysis: Kansas praised, Memphis ridiculed
The Lawrence Journal-World’s Tom Keegan calls this year’s Kansas team the best ever due to its dominating record and balanced play.
Source: Lawrence Journal-World
CBS Sportsline’s Gregg Doyel says that Memphis’ collapse “goes down as the worst in championship history.”
Source: CBS Sportsline
Basketball Prospectus’s John Gasaway looks at factors besides free-throw shooting that decided the game.
Source: Basketball Prospectus
When his team was up by three with under 10 seconds left, Calipari claims that he instructed them to foul before Kansas could attempt a game-tying shot. It didn’t work out, as Kansas guard Sherron Collins “got away” and set up Chalmers for the shot.
Source: NBC/AP
Background: Memphis’ free throw woes
Memphis made less than 60 percent of its free throws during the season, one of the worst averages in the country. “There is no reason, with the kind of players Memphis has, to shoot 58 percent,” warned “Paradox of the Free Throw” author Jim Poteet. “It will cost them. They won’t win the national championship.”
Source: The Washington Post
Key Players: Bill Self and Mario Chalmers
After playing in the 1988 and 2003 title games, Kansas saw coaches Larry Brown and Roy Williams leave for other teams. Now there is a chance that Bill Self could make the same move. The Tulsa World reports that Oklahoma State is prepared to offer OSU alumnus Self the head coaching job, and Self is “ready to give serious consideration” to accepting the offer.
Source: Tulsa World
A native of Anchorage, Alaska, Mario Chalmers has come a long way to become a Kansas Jayhawks legend.
Source: ESPN
Historical Context: Kansas’ three and big-game chokes
Mario Chalmers’ three in the dying seconds gave Kansas a chance to win in overtime. In 2003, the team wasn’t so lucky. Trailing Syracuse 81-78, Jayhawks guard Michael Lee was left alone in the corner with a chance to tie the game. However, Syracuse’s Hakim Warrick charged from all the way under the basket to block the shot and Syracuse held on for the win.
Source: ESPN
Chris Douglas-Roberts is not the first great player to make a crucial mistake in the national championship game. In 1993, down two with 11 seconds, Michigan’s Chris Webber called a timeout he did not have. Michigan was given a technical and lost any chance of coming back.
Source: YouTube
This isn’t the first time that John Calipari’s Memphis team lost an important game because of free-throw shooting. In the 2005 Conference USA championship game, Memphis needed a win to reach the NCAA tournament. It trailed by two when freshman guard Darius Washington was fouled as time expired. Shooting three, he made the first but missed the next two and Memphis had to settle for the NIT.
Source: YouTube
Related Topic: Danny and the Miracles
It’s been a good week for Kansas assistant coach Danny Manning, who was selected for induction to the National Collegiate Hall of Fame on Sunday. He led Kansas to its last title in 1988 as a player, beating Oklahoma in the final game. The Lawrence Journal-World has an archive of articles from that championship year.
Source: Lawrence Journal-World
Reference: March Madness Guide
FindingDulcinea’s March Madness Web Guide will help you find historical information on the tournament and show you how you can watch historical highlights and every game from this year’s tournament on your computer. It also features links to the best sources for news and analysis from national and local sources, including local papers and blogs for both Kansas and Memphis.
Source: findingDulcinea
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