SAN ANTONIO “”mdash; The memories of Bucknell in 2005, Bradley in 2006, and UCLA in 2007 can finally be replaced with a memory Kansas had been waiting 20 years for.
After years of disappointment in the NCAA Tournament, Kansas coach Bill Self was finally able to guide his Jayhawk squad to its first NCAA title since 1988 with a 75-68 overtime victory over Memphis (38-2), in an eerily similar fashion.
“I told our staff at pregame that, you know, Danny (Manning) is part of it now; he was a huge part of it then,” Self said in the postgame press conference. “Went through Nebraska. Went through Detroit. And then I saw the official line, Ed Hightower’s refereeing. That sounds weird, but Ed refereed the championship game in ’88. I thought to myself, the stars are aligning for whatever reason.”
Trailing by nine with 2:12 remaining after Memphis’ Robert Dozier hit two consecutive free throws, it appeared Kansas would again fall short of its quest for a title.
From there, though, the Jayhawks (37-3) quickly began to claw their way back into the game by forcing a Tiger turnover and then capitalizing on three missed free throws by Chris Douglas-Roberts and another by Derrick Rose.
“I don’t know if we played poorly or they played very well, but our offense was stale and we got down nine,” Self said. “We got fortunate late, but I’m really proud of our guys.”
Kansas did just that, as Darrell Arthur hit a jumper to cut the lead to seven before Sherron Collins made a crucial defensive play on a Memphis inbounds play only to get the ball back and drain a 3-pointer to bring the Jayhawks within four points.
“Coach Self did a great job in the huddle,” Kansas senior guard Russell Robinson said. “He kept telling us to believe and to keep playing hard.”
Kansas then reverted to the hack strategy. Douglas-Roberts was unfazed on his first trip to the line, swishing both shots.
Douglas-Roberts shot just 71 percent from the line this year, though, and the law of averages quickly caught up with him.
He missed his next three free-throw attempts, giving the Jayhawks a chance to tie the game with a 3-pointer in the final 10 seconds of the game.
As Collins dribbled up court with the clock winding down, he handed the ball off to Mario Chalmers, who hit a desperation 3-pointer from the top of the arc with 2.7 seconds left to tie the game and send it to overtime.
“When it left my hand it felt good, and I was just glad it went in,” Chalmers said after the game.
“We made so many plays down the stretch and got the ball into our most clutch player’s hands and he delivered,” Self said.
With Joey Dorsey having fouled out in the middle of the Memphis breakdown, Kansas had the advantage in the final five minutes of the championship game.
The Jayhawks were quick to exploit the hole in the Tiger defense, outscoring Memphis 8-0 in the paint and never trailing in the extra period.
The Tigers shot just 1 for 8 in the overtime period, including a barrage of missed 3-pointers, as Memphis finished the night shooting 6 for 22 from long range.
In a back-and-forth battle, it was the final Jayhawk surge that catapulted Self to his first NCAA title in his first-ever Final Four.
And just before he went to cut down the remainder of the net, it was Self’s assistant coach, Manning, who had led the 1988 Kansas team to the title, who received a great applause from the Jayhawk faithful in the Alamodome.
“Our fans are terrific,” Self said. “They’ve been so loyal, and I’d really, really like to thank all the past players and all the past coaches who have put this program where it is and certainly made my job a lot better.”
Erased now are the bitter memories of years past, of Self leading his team so far but not far enough.
“It’s a tough emotion, especially when there’s so many people around you that remind you ““ whether it be fans or whatever ““ remind you every day how that’s not acceptable,” Self said.
“You know, it’s one thing to win; it’s another thing to win the way we won. I don’t know if a coach really deserves what happened to me tonight because I can’t imagine it being any better any time.”