Dubbed as the “other” semifinal on a historic weekend in New Orleans, the Jayhawks delivered a clear message in their win over Villanova.
Had it been an underdog sports movie, this scene would have made for a good open or climax. But it was not an underdog sports film. It was Kansas, mighty Kansas, a deeper team with more experience, more NBA prospects, better stats—a higher average of almost everything; Points, rebounds, blocks, steals, assists—and, especially, better health. As if anyone needed a reminder, television cameras zoomed in on Villanova coach Jay Wright, Justin Moore, resting their injured guard, as the starting lineup was announced on Saturday without Moore in their usual slot.
For the next two hours, a basketball game transformed into a demolition derby that doubled as Kansas men's basketball and a reaffirmation of its national title chances. The message the Jayhawks delivered on Saturday was a suspect hit on the chin with a Mike Tyson uppercut landing flush.
The rest of the sports world can focus on Mike Krzyzewski's final NCAA Tournament run, a historic installment of the unique Duke-UNC rivalry and the rare story potential of a scandal or a game ending in short supply of scandal-ridden moments. . one more. Kansas will show up on Saturday and deliver that message, a loud reminder of an event, its proud history and its newest team, now a win by cutting another pair of nets on Monday night.
Reminder: Kansas arrived here as the only No. 1 seed in this NCAA tournament. Reminder: The Jayhawks have won 33 games in 2021-22, shared the Big 12 regular season crown and cruised through conference tournaments. Reminder: On March 25, Kansas passed Kentucky for the most wins in the history of men's college basketball.
And yet, those same Jayhawks also received an unusual welcome upon arrival, their presence – and the "other" national semi-final game – greeted by something like a gloomy trombone medley. "We're doing jacks," said coach Bill Self, his delivery rising with unexpected enthusiasm. It looked like he was pleading with everyone else in town to get into the Final Four. But most people were too busy wondering what to eat for their last meal at Coach's.
No problem. The Jayhawks arrived here on a mission, without any nostalgia, to make their own history. He hung the NCAA investigation upside down. Then he overcame a good-but-more-than opponent, from the opening tip to the final buzzer, easily 81-65. His victory, both in style and thoroughness, reminded a nation of college basketball fans obsessed with every Krzyzewski hand movement that perhaps the inevitable sweeping belief of the Duke title was, at the very least, a little wishful or premature. Was.
Almost as soon as Kansas left the field, the Duke and North Carolina players began to warm up. Perhaps he had noticed on his way how the Jayhawks hadn't celebrated, not even smiled that much. Instead, he projected a quiet confidence that contrasted with his statement of victory. It was as if they knew something that others didn't. Something that others will soon find out.
"I thought we played really well," Self said later, his enthusiasm already waning.
In some ways, Kansas-Villanova's nostalgia centered on the Wildcats, who were too busy cobbling together another game-plan adjusted for injury to worry about things like interest. In the cruelest of all turns, Moore tore his right Achilles in the final minute of his team's last game, made even less appealing by an ugly win over Houston when Villanova lost the cornerstone for the remainder of the tournament.
Fans packed into the Superdome, anyway, forming the first full-on Final Four crowd since the global COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the tournament in 2020. They were quick. They were loud. Many appeared to be superbly lubricated, and who can blame them? The four teams left could win 17 combined national titles this men's college basketball season.
Kansas immediately stunned Villanova; The Jayhawks tossed the ball in, caught aggressive rebounds and forced turnovers, and the combination opened up a 10-0 lead that would never be released. Ochai Agbaji pushed the Wildcats forward, which was surprising and not surprising at all. It was the same guard who didn't receive a Power 5 scholarship offer until the final semester of his senior year in high school, who went to Kansas to play for himself, a coach who believed in him. He became an All-American and won everything this season: Big 12 Player of the Year, Big 12 Tournament MVP, Big 12 titles.
Self liked to say that Aghazi reminded him of Danny Manning, one of the best players in the history of a program full of deserving candidates. But Agaji's score fell in the NCAA Tournament, just below a five-point effort in Kansas' Sweet 16 win over Providence. He had broken 20 points in the Jayhawks only twice in the last 10 matches. But there he was, early in the "other" game on Saturday, setting up on the left wing and downing three-pointers as if he was about to hit them. He made his first four attempts from across the arc, and by that time, Aghazi had single-handedly dismissed Villanova.
That's what Self meant last week, when his team sealed their return to the Final Four after finishing top in Miami. He told reporters that the Jayhawks' "best moments" were still ahead of him. It sounded a bit like coach-speak, or wishful thinking. But here's the thing: He wasn't wrong.
Kansas lost to Dayton at the start of the season. It also stumbled against Texas Tech, Kentucky and Texas. There's no shame in that; Good teams, everyone. But as February turned into March, back-to-back and double-digit losses in boilers and TCUs raised some alarm. Instead of panic or dramatic change, the Jayhawks did what programs like theirs do. Self called on Remy Martin, the speedy guard who was named Precision Conference Player of the Year, only in late December to injure a knee that had limited his role since then. As Martin began to return to his stellar form, the Jayhawks took nine straight victories.
As Kansas tried to fix a bad season, Martin withdrew his starring role. Self needed a round in the Elite Eight against Miami, which has become something of a program nemesis. Prior to this season, Self had reached that stage—so close to the Final Four, yet still very far—on 10 separate occasions. He lost seven of those games, including five in Kansas. "Not good enough," he said. The Jayhawks also weathered the storm, before performing a second-half demonstration of what Kansas' optimal version looked like. KU won by 26 points, a team tied with the largest margin of victory in tournament history, losing in the half. The debut ended with 18 points, a good sign. Martin won the Most Outstanding Player honor for Midwest Regional; One even better.
A sideline reporter for CBS asked herself about her father, Bill Sr., who died in January at the age of 82. Self called the season special and invoked one of his father's favorite things. Don't worry about the mules, just load the wagon. Meaning don't worry about the lack of halftime in another Elite Eight game. Or don't worry about making another Final Four and still being overwhelming, despite owning the highest seed of any team.
As the first half against Villanova continued, Kansas simply kept loading the wagons. There was David McCormack, who was not only slapping his chest but, oddly enough, slapping the side of his own head in celebration. Ahead Jalen Wilson was driving and delivering, scoring and assisting when needed. And there was Dajuan Harris Jr., another guard who himself admits he may be his "favourite" for a variety of reasons. Harris, Self explained, understands basketball, loves the sport and deals with losing his father and a brother while playing for KU. Harris says he still doesn't know how his father died. He may not know what happened to his younger brother, Dazione, who was shot by a friend, according to police.
Every time Villanova came back in, it seemed like Harris answered with a triple. And each three-pointer made, each run pacified, the emphasis on the big, clear point. Kansas was a more talented team, a deeper team, and a healthier team. Villanova scraped bravely, repeatedly, sometimes cutting losses to single digits. But it never really felt like the Wildcats had a real chance of winning.
Villanova seemed to play with growing desperation. The Wildcats fired shots and threw the pass into the traffic. Kansas may have felt the same way—after all, the Jayhawks had been the tournament's No. 1 overall seed two seasons ago; Alas, a champion is never crowned—but it is played more with purpose. The 2020 tournament had never happened. The '21 version did not resemble normal, and the Jayhawks were bounced in the second round, out-muscled and punked by USC. The players who remained from those teams considered their last chance to handle unfinished business after this season.
Perhaps Kansas had been steel for the past two seasons. Maybe it just wanted to win, even needed. The Jayhawks were certainly experienced, their roster full of seniors and super seniors and players who went through so much uncertainty and turmoil. But the uproar over Villanova went the last way to write a better ending.
Regardless, Kansas led 40-29 at the break. After another three-pointer from Harris, he had extended his lead to 16 points. The Wildcats didn't control the pace, didn't limit the Jayhawks' possessions. If Villanova had done both, it is likely that the loss would have been less one-sided, not turning into an unexpected victory.
In the middle of the second half, Wildcats guard Caleb Daniels missed a three-pointer from the wing. Had it gone in, it would have reduced the deficit to 66-61. This was as close as Villanova would come, as the illustrious careers of Colin Gillespie and Jermaine Samuels came to an end.
Lame himself on the floor for the postgame interview. Perhaps he thought of his father and another wagon loaded. He may have sought out his mother, Margaret, who had returned to sports in recent months after spending years caring for her husband.
It is highly unlikely that he considered the NCAA scandal, the document delivered 900 days earlier to his university, containing serious allegations, calling him a more or less fraudulent and a "lack of institutional control" . This week, Self said he hoped the matter would be resolved "soon" and "once and for all." He couldn't comment further than that, not even about pertinent topics, like the strange juxtaposition of a national title-winning event with an investigation next week. Winning between checks, of course, would be over the choice.
The same went for another Villanova–Kansas match-up that had a national title effect. The last time these teams played in late-season NCAA Tournament competition, the Wildcats opened a 22-4 lead in 2018 and ran toward not only the Jayhawks but their second one shining moment in three seasons. In fact, if the trend between these teams holds, it bodes well for the Jayhawks' chances on Monday night. In the last four times VU and KU played Sweet 16 or later, the winning team went on to win the national championship.
Should it stop, will it be weird? As Kansas proved again on Saturday, none of this matters. Not the Jayhawks, not their coach, and not on Monday night.