Kansas Runs Past Villanova to get to the NCAA Final

Now we’re down to the final four. On Saturday, in New Orleans, the Kansas Jayhawks men’s basketball team will take on Villanova in the Final Four. The winner will advance to Monday night’s championship game. The game will start at 5:09 p.m. Central Time and can be seen on TBS.

For those who can’t tune in to the broadcast, our live blog will provide highlights and commentary of the game as it unfolds.

To start the game, Kansas is 32-6 while Villanova is 30-7. Wildcats star Justin Moore tore his Achilles tendon in the Elite Eight, thus he will be out for the rest of the season.

Moore’s absence will be felt greatly because he contributed significantly to the team’s success this year by scoring 14.8 points per game, grabbing 4.8 rebounds per contest, and dishing out 2.3 assists.

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Kansas Head Coach Bill Self, Villanova’s David McCormack, and Ochai Agbaji

Villanova’s head coach, Jay Wright, started his postgame press conference by praising Kansas for their dominating performance in the championship game.

He remarked, “They played fantastic.” They planned ahead and carried out their strategy superbly. We’d like their efforts to be recognised. “They really brought it tonight.”

After then, when questions about David McCormack and Ochai Agbaji came up, Wright addressed them directly.

Wright remarked, “He was outstanding,” about McCormack. It’s not only that he’s remarkable. They get the ball to him in the proper areas because of their execution and their tactics.

He elaborated on Agbaji, saying, “That was actually a huge aspect. Our strategy called for not giving him any momentum. It’s amazing how well he moves even (the ball). Give him a lot of credit, that’s for sure.

“We’re not in Kansas to Compete in the Final Four.”

There was a postgame locker room chant of “One more!” from the Kansas Jayhawks. Their press conference was peppered with questions about it.

Christian Braun has stated that this has been the team’s mentality ever since they reached the Elite Eight. They haven’t shied away from their focus on the national championship game.

“We’re not here to play in the Final Four,” Braun remarked, referring to the state of Kansas as the destination. We’re going to Kansas to get the gold medal.

If you ask Bill Self, the chance for a National Championship is more than Just a

Kansas was widely predicted to win the national championship in 2020. As the 2020 NCAA Tournament was cancelled due to COVID-19, that team never got the chance to compete.

Bill Self remarked that this fact just added to the enjoyment of the run.

Self said of the 2020 squad, “I thought that was probably as prepared a team to play well in the tournament as any we’ve had.” Due to what we lost in 2020, I believe that an increased importance has been placed on this one.

Christian Braun Retells the Story of the Game-Winning Three-Point Shot from 30 Feet Out.

Since Braun has yet to make a 3-pointer this game, he claimed he was in a relaxed state of mind as he let the ball fly.

Braun remarked that he “really had nothing to lose honestly.” I tossed one and it found the back of the net.

A quote from Bill Self about David McCormack: “He was our guy from the outset.”

Kansas head coach Bill Self noted in the postgame news conference that despite David McCormack’s up-and-down season due to injuries, the player was always his “boy” on the court.

“Right off the bat, he was our guy,” Coach Self stated of the player. To paraphrase, “There was never any doubt about who our guy was. Also, I suppose he was aware of that fact.

RESULT: Kansas 81, Villanova 65

While Villanova played well at times, Kansas’ 81–65 Final Four victory felt just as decisive as the Jayhawks’ second half against the Heat in the Elite Eight.

David McCormack had a career night, scoring 25 points on 10-for-12 shooting and pulling down nine boards on the biggest stage. Ochai Agbaji ended a terrible shooting drought by making 6 of 7 three-point attempts and scoring 21 points. And after being held scoreless in the first half, Christian Braun exploded for 10 points in the second, including a game-winning 3-pointer from 30 feet out.

Over the final 20 minutes, Kansas was able to shoot 61%. If the Jayhawks slowed down after halftime, Villanova might have a chance. The opposite was true.

On Monday night, Kansas will play the winner of North Carolina and Duke for the national championship. In 2012, the Jayhawks were defeated by Kentucky in the national championship game, so this is their first trip to the big game since then.

Halftime (H2) score: Kansas 75, Villanova 62

Together, Kansas and Villanova have shot 25 three-pointers today, matching the Final Four record. The Jayhawks have made 13, while the Wildcats have made 12. When was the last time this occurred in the Final Four?

2019 will feature a rematch between Kansas and Villanova.

Kansas 71, Villanova 59 (H2 3:31)

There are a number of aspects in this game that people will remember.

There was David McCormack’s absolute control, Ochai Agbaji’s pinpoint accuracy from long range, etc. Christian Braun nailed a 3-pointer from 30 feet out, putting his team up 71-59 and maybe putting the game away.

On the other side, Kansas’s responses to the numerous runs by Villanova should not be forgotten. An 8-2 run was the most concerning since it cut Kansas’ lead to 64-58, which is only six points.

What sort of reaction did the Jayhawks have? They went on a 7-1 run of their own, sealed by a stunning 3-pointer from Braun.

Kansas 64, Villanova 55 (7:44 H2)

Bill Self only gave David McCormack 37 seconds off the court to recover before replacing Mitch Lightfoot with him. When it came to his performance, Lightfoot had no issues. I don’t think so at all. McCormack should stay in this kind of position for as long as he can. If Kansas is on the court, he can pretty much do whatever he wants in the paint.

After Villanova went on a 5-0 run to cut Kansas’ advantage to seven points, 62-55, the Jayhawks responded with two consecutive baskets.

H2 at 10:25: Kansas 62, Villanova 50

Look, Villanova has really turned it around from the beginning of the game. It started out making only 4 of 14 long-range attempts, but has since succeeded in 6 of its last 7.

David McCormack, however, claims that this is irrelevant.

The big man for Kansas is having a monster game in the paint, scoring 19 points on 8-for-10 shooting and essentially controlling the game. (It also helps that Ochai Agbaji is making all six of his 3-point attempts for a total of 18 points.)

H2 at 14:07: Kansas 50, Villanova 42.

Since the second to last few minutes of the first half, this has been a run-filled whirlwind.

In the final two minutes of the quarter, Villanova scored 10 unanswered points to take the lead. Following a slow start to the second half, Kansas exploded for 10 points in the first five minutes, and is now on an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to single digits.

H2 score (at 15:29): Kansas 50, Villanova 36

To Capitalise on its late first-half momentum, Villanova needed a strong start to the second half.

No, it didn’t understand.

Kansas, on the other hand, has opened the fourth quarter on a 10-7 run and reverted to its red-hot outside shooting, with three-pointers from Ochai Agbaji (his fifth) and Dajuan Harris (his second).

6:10 p.m. Incredible Number for the KU Jayhawks Basketball Team…

And everything looks good for Kansas in their game versus Villanova today.

At the Break, the Score was 40-19 for Kansas Over Villanova.

On Kansas’s next-to-last possession, Mitch Lightfoot made a huge put-back off a miss. It stopped a 10-0 run by Villanova and gave the Jayhawks a 10-point advantage going into intermission.

However, the last ten minutes have had a huge impact on how this game feels. At the half, Kansas’s lead was only 11. The Jayhawks’ shooting slump continued as they made just four of their last 12 three-point attempts.

There are now 25 points on the board, thanks to the efforts of David McCormack (13 points) and Ochai Agbaji (12 points). Agbaji, who had only made four 3-pointers in the entire NCAA Tournament, made all four of them before halftime.

With 11 points, Collin Gillespie is Villanova’s scoring leader. Jay Wright only used six players off the bench in the first half because of Justin Moore’s absence.

Kansas Wins H1 by 38 over Villanova in 1:41

And with that, we’re back in the game.

You had to know Villanova would make a run at some time, and they did so with 10 straight baskets to cut their deficit to single digits. The shooting for Kansas has returned to earth, and Collin Gillespie has been outstanding. There has been no scoring by the Jayhawks in over three and a half minutes.

At 3:35, The H1 Score is Kansas 38, Villanova 22.

During that time period, Villanova’s basketball team outscored Kansas 4-2 on the court. Really, that’s the only period of basketball that the Jayhawks have been beaten today.

In this discussion, KU’s ability to score from deep has received a lot of attention. But David McCormack has been as powerful below the radar. He has scored 13 points on 5 of 6 shooting to put him in first place. Dunks. Toy springs. Basically, everything is being handled by him.

Kansas is dominating this game on all fronts.

As of the First Half’s 6:02 Mark, Kansas has a 36-18 Lead Against Villanova.

To the point where you can safely assume that any shot taken by a Kansas player has a good chance of going in.

The Jayhawks’ 3-point percentage has risen to an impressive 70% (7-for-10). Four were manufactured by Ochai Agbaji, while one was each made by Jalen Wilson, Remy Martin, and Dajuan Harris. There is a 68.4 percent success rate for Kansas as a whole (13-for-19).

A complete farce at this point.

When it came to defensive efficiency, KenPom ranked Villanova as the No. 17 team in the country heading into the Final Four. However, it is allowing the Jayhawks to get open looks, which they are converting.

The Score at 9:28 in H1 is Kansas 26, Villanova 11.

What do you make of Ochai Agbaji’s pass to David McCormack? God, that’s awful.

Right now, things couldn’t be looking better for Kansas. Everything. To date, this has been the best stretch of basketball the Jayhawks have played all season, and it dates back to the second half of their Elite Eight game against Miami.

Kansas has been on another level in the first 10 and a half minutes, and Villanova will need to make adjustments quickly if they want to keep it competitive.

Kansas 19, Villanova 8 (11:33 H1)

This Ochai Agbaji, where have you been during the NCAA Championships?

The adage, “better late than never,” certainly applies here.

The league’s MVP is a perfect 4-for-4 from deep to lead all scorers with 12 points. All flashes as well. That is his highest total of three-pointers made in a game since February 26 against Baylor.

And the Jayhawks’ defence remains stifling, holding the Wildcats to 30% shooting (3-for-10). The Wildcats scored their first five points on putbacks.

Kansas 10, Villanova 2 (H1) at 15:28

This game has started off as well as it could have for Kansas.

It’s 10-2 and Kansas is on top. In six attempts, they’ve succeeded in making four. Three out of Villanova’s four shots have been missed, and the team has turned the ball over four times. It took the Wildcats until the 17:05 mark to score their first basket.

Around the 16:30 mark, Christian Braun of Kansas shot and missed from beyond the arc for the first time.

Can we expect this to continue? Most likely not. Both Villanova and Jay Wright, their coach, are too good to let it happen. I mean, holy cow, this is the beginning every Jayhawks fan in the country has been hoping for.

4:55 p.m. K.U.’s Basketball Assistant Coaches have Signed New Contracts.

Starting on January 1, 2022, Kurtis Townsend, Norm Roberts, and Jeremy Case have each signed one-year rolling term contracts that automatically renew for another year on July 1 of each year unless otherwise specified in the agreement. There is a $500,000 base wage for Townsend, $520,000 for Roberts, and $250,000 for Case. Depending on how far Kansas goes in the tournament, they will receive rewards of up to $25,000.

Townsend and Roberts’ old contracts were slated to expire on March 31, 2022, which is an unusual date for coaches on a club that has high NCAA Tournament expectations every year.

4:15 p.m. The Ripple effects of a Kansas Jayhawks Championship Run Might be Significant.

It’s the nature of collegiate sports that Kansas’ success in the Final Four will have repercussions beyond simply the men’s basketball programme.

According to head football coach Lance Leipold, at least.

Head coach Leipold, who is in his second year with the Jayhawks, believes that the success of Bill Self’s squad and the women’s basketball team may improve Kansas’ reputation with prospects nationwide. Even in the gridiron. It is then up to the football coaches to make the most of the situation.

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4 p.m. How significant is Remy Martin to the KU Basketball Team?

While Villanova is struggling without Justin Moore’s 14.8 ppg, Kansas is playing some of its best basketball of the season thanks in large part to the reemergence of Remy Martin as a key player.

Martin is averaging 16.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.3 assists in four games for Kansas in the NCAA Tournament, shooting 41.7% (5-for-12) from deep and 54.5% (24-for-44) overall. All of Villanova’s starters recognise Martin’s value to this postseason lineup, despite the fact that he’s been on the bench.