Kansas Caps March Madness with Historic Comeback Win vs. North Carolina

Ninety seconds into the national championship, deja vu made an appearance. Two nights after the Kansas Jayhawks sprinted out to a 10-0 lead on the Villanova Wildcats and never trailed in a dominant victory, KU soared to a 7-0 advantage on the North Carolina Tar Heels.

But then, it was deja vu all over again.

North Carolina came roaring back, exactly as they did against the Duke Blue Devils two nights earlier. Not only did the Tar Heels quickly recover to claim a 12-11 edge, they soon rattled off a 16-0 spurt to build a 15-point halftime lead.

On this evening in New Orleans, however, that was merely the opening act. The Jayhawks and Heels provided a true instant classic, one that finished with Kansas celebrating a nerve-wracking 72-69 win for the program's first title in 14 years.

The favored team looked the part immediately. The underdog responded and even seemed to begin running away. After the favorite clawed back into the lead, the final minutes became a tug-of-war on the scoreboard.

Shoot, the precise moment we thought the championship had been decided, Kansas guard Dajuan Harris Jr. stepped out of bounds and gifted UNC a potential tying shot at the buzzer.

Unless you bleed Carolina blue—or perhaps had thrown down a few shekels on the Heels—the 2022 national title was everything we hope to see in a championship game.

The storylines are practically endless.

North Carolina star Armando Bacot tallied 15 points and 15 rebounds, making history as the first player to record a double-double in six NCAA tournament games, per ESPN Stats & Info. He valiantly played through an ankle injury, even rolling it again in the last minute.

UNC reserve Puff Johnson provided 18 key minutes—tying the second-most playing time of his young career—recording 11 points and six rebounds. Whether it was simply the wind being knocked out of him, as CBS reporter Tracy Wolfson noted, the pace of that chaotic game, the emotion of the moment or a combination of those factors, Johnson literally vomited on the floor.

Brady Manek and his beard pushed UNC to a 69-68 advantage with 1:41 to play, tipping in a missed shot and sending the UNC crowd into hysterics.

Caleb Love, who just capped a 28-point game against Duke with a dagger three, launched the possible overtime-forcing shot as time expired. Had it fallen, what a story that would've been.

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Like your friend who thrives while in control of the aux cord, North Carolina only plays bangers.

Unfortunately for the Heels, they've come out on the wrong end of the championship twice in the last six tournaments. Nevertheless, UNC lost to Villanova at the 2016 buzzer, used a last-minute surge to defeat Gonzaga in 2017, and had Love's buzzer-beating opportunity Monday night.

If having the Heels in the national title means we're getting those types of showdowns, sign me up for North Carolina on the championship stage every year.

And that was the losing team.

Kansas wing Christian Braun sparked the Jayhawks with 10 points in the opening eight minutes of the second half. He finished with 12 points, 12 rebounds and three assists.

Although star guard Ochai Agbaji had a relatively quiet game, he converted a critical and-one to even the score at 50 in the second half. Kansas had been within a possession for two-plus minutes but didn't break through until Agbaji's three-point play.

Literally on the next possession, Remy Martin—who'd fallen well short of expectations for much of the season—embarked on a clutch end to his stellar NCAA tourney. During the last 10:30 alone, the Arizona State transfer hit three triples for 11 of his 14 points, nabbed an important steal, assisted another three and blocked a shot in the last minute to protect a 70-69 edge.

Most notably, David McCormack capped his redemptive March Madness run with Kansas' two most important shots. He scored the go-ahead bucket with 1:21 to play and nudged the Jayhawks to a three-point lead one minute later.

McCormack notched 15 points and 10 rebounds, also joining Agbaji—named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2022 Big Dance—Bacot and Love on the All-Tournament Team.

In the process, KU both completed the largest comeback in national championship history and denied Hubert Davis the honor of becoming the second-ever first-year coach to win the title.

Every single one of those storylines—from Bacot's injury and Love's shot to Martin's rise, McCormack's dagger and KU's record—is worth a feature of its own. Yet, in the immediate aftermath of the Jayhawks' victory, we can barely scratch the surface.

That, however, is the nature of witnessing an instant classic.

Statistics courtesy of KenPom.com or Sports-Reference.com, unless otherwise noted. Follow Bleacher Report writer David Kenyon on Twitter @Kenyon19_BR.