Apr 4, 2022; New Orleans, LA, USA; The Kansas Jayhawks celebrate after beating the North Carolina Tar Heels during the 2022 NCAA men’s basketball tournament Final Four championship game at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
NCAABy Matt Clapp on

The Kansas Jayhawks are college basketball’s national champions, and they made a historic comeback to make it happen.

1-seed Kansas erased a 16-point deficit (15 points at halftime) to hold off 8-seed North Carolina 72-69 in the 2022 NCAA Tournament’s national title game on Monday in New Orleans. It’s the largest comeback win in National Championship history.

The Jayhawks outscored the Tar Heels 47-29 in the second half. Kansas got a team effort in the scoring department, with nobody scoring more than 15 points, but five players scoring at least 12 points (North Carolina had five players with at least 11 points and nobody with more than 15).

Defensively, Kansas held North Carolina to 31.5% from the field, including 5-of-24 shooting from Caleb Love (who scored 28 points on 11-of-20 shooting vs Duke in the Final Four).

It’s the fourth national title in Kansas men’s basketball history, and it’s the first one since 2008 (which also featured Bill Self as head coach).

Here’s how the sports world is reacting to the Jayhawks’ championship victory:

https://twitter.com/ESPNStatsInfo/status/1511197214919598081

 

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About Matt Clapp

Matt is an editor at The Comeback. He attended Colorado State University, wishes he was Saved by the Bell's Zack Morris, and idolizes Larry David. And loves pizza and dogs because obviously.

He can be followed on Twitter at @Matt2Clapp (also @TheBlogfines for Cubs/MLB tweets and @DaBearNecess for Bears/NFL tweets), and can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.

View all posts by Matt Clapp