Brynn Anderson/Associated Press
The Kansas Jayhawks and North Carolina Tar Heels secured their places in the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament national championship in very different ways on Saturday night.
Kansas drove to a win over the Villanova Wildcats, who were without star guard Justin Moore. The Jayhawks played some of their best basketball games of the season against Villanova, beating the Miami Hurricanes in the second half of the Elite Eight.
North Carolina ended the illustrious career of Duke Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski in an epic battle between ACC rivals.
The Tar Heels used their first win over Duke on March 5 to catapult themselves into the Big Dance, where they played with a ton of confidence.
DraftKings Sportsboook listed Kansas as a four-point favorite in Monday night’s title fight in New Orleans for having played recently and rebounding from an easier game, but UNC should give the Jayhawks a strong test.
Information on the game of the national championship
Date: Monday, April 4th
Start time: 9:20 p.m. ET
TV: TBS
preview
Kansas looked the part of the last No. 1 seed left in the bracket in the final 60 minutes of basketball.
The Jayhawks impressed with their defense in every half against Villanova and in the second half against Miami last Sunday.
Kansas improved immensely on offense for their clash with Villanova. The Jayhawks shot 13 of 24 from the three-point line. Bill Self’s team is shooting 35.5 percent from three-point range this season.
The Big 12 roster gained an early advantage through David McCormack with 25 points and nine rebounds.
McCormack goes into Monday with a lot of confidence after using his size difference against the Villanova players. The Kansas big man faces a much tougher challenge Monday against Armando Bacot, who hit 21 rebounds against Duke.
Bacot suffered an ankle injury towards the end of Saturday’s game. His status will be closely monitored over the next 48 hours.
Even though Bacot is almost completely healthy, it can give McCormack, Jalen Wilson and Mitch Lightfoot an advantage they can exploit in the color.
Bacot has gotten himself in bad trouble, too, and if he’s not moving at 100 percent, Kansas could try to take advantage of him, who might be a step slower.
Kansas could also have an advantage over Brady Manek, who started his college career in Oklahoma.
Manek was one of North Carolina’s top scorers throughout the tournament. Kansas was able to look back at previous meetings with Oklahoma to see what worked and what didn’t work against Manek.
Conversely, Manek has the most experience against Kansas in the UNC roster, and his familiarity with the style of play could help the Tar Heels game plan in the short term.
Monday’s winner could also come down to something as simple as the team with the best shotmakers.
Ochai Agbaji proved why he’s Kansas’ best player as he rose against Villanova with 21 points and six three-pointers. That was his highest single-game score since the Big 12 semifinals on March 11.
Caleb Love was fantastic for UNC. He had 28 points in Saturday’s win over Duke and 30 points in the Sweet 16 triumph over the UCLA Bruins. If UNC gets Love going early, the ACC roster could match Kansas shot for shot in the backcourt match.
If Love and Agbaji play like they did on Saturday, we could see a heavyweight match of the best shooters decide the national championship.
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