The UNC men’s basketball team’s incredible run through the NCAA Tournament came to an end Monday night in New Orleans, as the Tar Heels fell to the No. 1 seed Kansas Jayhawks, 72-69, in the national championship game.
This one stings.#CarolinaFamily | @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/FhBKG28gb6
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) April 5, 2022
“I can’t remember a time in my life where I should be disappointed, but I’m just filled with so much pride,” said head coach Hubert Davis. “I’m so proud of these guys for what they have done for themselves individually, as a team, the way that they have represented our university, this program, our community.”
Though the Jayhawks scored the first seven points of the game, Carolina appeared in great shape to take home its seventh NCAA title in the first half, bouncing back from the poor start to lead by as many as 16 points at 38-22. Junior forward Armando Bacot battled through an ankle injury suffered during the semifinals on Saturday night to put together a double-double in the first half. With 12 points and 10 rebounds in 20 minutes, Bacot secured his 31st double-double of the season, tying him with David Robinson for the most all-time in a single campaign.
“I’ve had the privilege of seeing all of his hard work that he did in the offseason,” Davis said of Bacot. “It’s not just his effort tonight. The effort tonight… he’s done it all year consistently. And that’s why he’s one of the better players in the country.”
But operating basically on one foot, Bacot could only do so much against Kansas’ bruising forward David McCormack. After trailing by 15 points at halftime, the Jayhawks opened the second half with a thunderous alley-oop to McCormack, igniting the Kansas fans and starting the comeback. Powered by balanced scoring and sloppy play from the Tar Heels, the Jayhawks erased the Carolina lead and then some within 10 minutes, ripping off a 31-10 run to take a 56-50 lead.
“They were just getting a lot of transition buckets,” said sophomore guard Caleb Love. “They were just penetrating, doing whatever they wanted to do.”
“The shots that we usually make we were missing,” said sophomore guard R.J. Davis. “Everyone just told everyone, ‘Just stay together.’ There was a lot of time left.”
UNC eventually found its footing amid the Jayhawk blitz, though they had to do it as both Love and Bacot were hobbled and senior wing Leaky Black was mired in foul trouble. Black was tasked with guarding Kansas’ Ochai Agbaji, who ended the night as Final Four Most Outstanding Player, but committed his fourth foul with 10:53 left in the game. Love, meanwhile, was noticeably limping during the Kansas comeback.
“I was running down and kind of twisted my ankle, rolled my ankle twice,” Love said.
Sophomore wing Puff Johnson entered the game in place of Black after Black’s fourth foul, and ended up giving the Tar Heels a boost when they needed it most. Johnson scored seven consecutive points for Carolina late in the second half, keeping the team afloat and answering three-pointers from Kansas’ Remy Martin and Jalen Wilson. But Johnson also had to be removed from the game late, after taking a blow to the midsection and appearing to vomit on the court.
Even through all of that mayhem on the Superdome floor, the Tar Heels actually briefly retook the lead, after a Love missed layup fell into the hands of graduate forward Brady Manek, who tapped it in with 1:41 left to put Carolina in front, 69-68. Those two points would be the last of Manek’s collegiate career, and UNC’s last of the 2021-22 season.
On the other end, McCormack grabbed his own miss over the hobbled Bacot and put in the follow-up attempt, giving Kansas a lead that, unlike Carolina, it would not relinquish. As the clock ticked under a minute, the Tar Heels gave the ball to Bacot, who drove aggressively down the lane against McCormack. As he tried to pivot around him, Bacot’s ankle finally gave out completely, sending the big man to the floor and sending the ball into the hands of the Jayhawks. Bacot had to be helped off the floor, barely putting any weight on his right leg.
“Right then and there I knew I was done at that point,” he said.
McCormack scored one more time in the post over the undersized Manek, giving the Jayhawks a three-point lead. On the other end, the Tar Heels got two shots at a potential game-tying three from Love and Johnson which both missed, then turned the ball over on the sideline in the fracas. The play appeared to seal the game with four seconds left, but a Kansas turnover on the ensuing inbounds play gave Carolina one final chance.
As UNC’s play began to unfold, Manek stumbled as he was cutting to the three-point line.
“We were supposed to throw it to him,” Hubert Davis said. “Looked like he was going to be open… but he stumbled. And so it threw the play totally off. I think he would have been open.”
Instead, the ball found Love’s hands. Guarded closely at the line, Love managed to find the space to force up a desperation three at the buzzer which missed everything. It capped off a wretched shooting night for the sophomore, who finished 5-24 from the floor for just 13 points.
“It hurts for us to get this far and come up short like this, everything we went through,” Love said. “But you know, the positive thing is I wouldn’t want to go through this with anybody else.”
The game marked an ignominious first for the Tar Heels: it was the first time the team had lost a double-digit halftime lead in NCAA Tournament play, after going 46-0 in the previous instances. The 15-point comeback far surpassed UNC’s previous record for a blown halftime lead in the tournament, which was nine points to those same Kansas Jayhawks in 2013. Kansas’ 16-point comeback was also the largest in the history of the national championship game.
The loss drops UNC’s record in title games to 6-6 all-time. Still, Hubert Davis is the first Division I head coach ever to appear in the championship game in his first full season. The team’s overall record for the season is 29-10, which is more wins than Roy Williams, Dean Smith or Frank McGuire had in their first seasons in Chapel Hill.
“I love what I’m doing,” said Davis. “I just love being the head coach at the University of North Carolina and coaching these kids.”
“I would say this season has been successful,” Bacot said. “Just having Coach Davis as a coach. He’s been amazing all year… and just this program, we’ve all loved being here all year and just playing for Coach Davis. This won’t be the last time y’all will see this program here.”
Featured image via Todd Melet. For a full photo gallery of the game, click here.
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