It was all very cloudy from my perspective, but I remember lying face down on the floor with my hands cupped against my face. There were loud noises, and I’m pretty sure my heart flat-lined for a couple of seconds.
The situation? Kansas’ Mario Chalmers had just sunk the 3-pointer that sent the NCAA national championship game into overtime.
A shot that will be remembered by Kansas fans (and Memphis fans) for years to come, Chalmers’ clutch trey concluded a 9-0 Jayhawk run in the last two minutes of regulation to force overtime with the Memphis Tigers.
At that point, Kansas’ momentum could not be stopped; the Jayhawks scored the first six points in overtime and rolled to a 75-68 victory. Here are three reasons why I believe the Hawks came out on top.
Team effort
When you consider the other three No. 1 seeded teams, there is one player that comes to mind with each team. North Carolina: Tyler Hansbrough. Memphis: Derrick Rose. UCLA: Kevin Love. But when it comes to the Hawks, there is not one player, but many, who can deliver when it counts.
If it’s not Brandon Rush, perhaps the most recognized of the Jayhawks, who steps up, then it’s Russell Robinson, Sherron Collins or Darrell Arthur, among others. Even freshman Cole Aldrich proved he can deliver in big games, posting eight points and four blocks in KU’s victory over North Carolina in the Final Four.
Roy in the stands
I don’t know if I can ever fully forgive Roy Williams for abandoning his players (and us diehard Kansas fans) in 2003 to coach at his alma mater, North Carolina. But KU winning the championship this year and watching his UNC team fall apart in the process definitely helps.
Williams, however, earned major points with me by attending the championship game with a Jayhawk sticker on his shirt. I’m sure that didn’t sit too well with his supporters at Chapel Hill, but there is no denying that he left a part of himself in Lawrence, Kan. I can’t help but believe that those 15 years weren’t for nothing.
No Carmelo
In 2003, Carmelo Anthony almost single-handedly defeated the Jayhawks in the NCAA national championship with his 20-point, 10-rebound and seven-assist masterwork for Syracuse.
This year, though, there was no one like him in the final. Freshman Rose for Memphis might be the closest, but he wilted, like many other strong players (Davidson’s Stephen Curry or NC’s Hansbrough), under Kansas’ stellar defense. Rose scored only three points in the first half of the final this year, and he choked on a game-winning free throw.
The stars were truly aligned on the night the Jayhawks won. Consider Rose’s 3-pointer being converted into a 2-pointer, Kansas making big play after big play down the stretch, top Memphis players living up to their team’s inability to convert at the free-throw line and Chalmers’ miraculous buzzer-beater.
Year after year, I pick Kansas to win it all, and after “first-round exits” from the tournament two of the past three years, I had my doubts this year. What happened in the Alamodome on Monday, April 7, though, was the culmination of what it means to be a Kansas fan. To say that this game was like any other NCAA final would not only be a lie, but a gross understatement.
The 2008 national championship was, in this columnist’s opinion, nothing less than the finest college basketball game in recent history.
Dan Hunninghake is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences.
