A meeting of college basketball powers in Monday night's national title game delivered a game for the ages as Kansas rallied from a 16-point deficit to beat North Carolina 72-69 and secure the program's fourth national championship.
The Jayhawks' furious rally marked the largest-ever comeback in a national title game, besting Loyola-Chicago's 15-point comeback against Cincinnati from the 1963 title game.
David McCormack scored a critical go-ahead lay-up with 1:21 remaining to put Kansas ahead 70-69. Then, he added another bucket with 22 seconds left to make it a 72-69 edge. North Carolina missed a consecutive 3-pointers on the ensuing possession to clinch the outcome.
Kansas jumped out to an early 7-0 lead but was outscored 40-18 over the rest of the first half as the Tar Heels dominated the offensive glass for an 18-2 edge in second-chance points entering the break. But whatever coach Bill Self told the Jayhawks at halftime worked wonders as KU came bursting out of the locker room with 31-10 spurt.
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