Kansas Jayhawks Beat the Memphis Tigers to Win the NCAA Championship

What a game! It was exactly what you would expect of a championship match between two No. 1 seeds. We were held in suspense as we watched. Kansas led the majority of the game only to fall behind with about six minutes left to go in regulation play. Even though Kansas led most of the time, it was very interesting to watch the two teams battle it out.

The Jayhawks were rarely able to make a gap larger than a few points in their lead. It seemed the Tigers were always on their heels. Any mistake would be picked up immediately. The Jayhawks had a difficult time making three point shots during this final game, while the Tigers made several of their attempts. As we watched the Tigers enlarging their lead, we watched helplessly. Each time they scored, we hoped and prayed Kansas would come back with points of their own. As the clock counted down toward the final buzzer, we were breathless as Kansas began to whittle the Tigers lead. Fouls began to take their toll on the Kansas team.

Every time a Tiger player stepped to the free throw line, the Kansas players stood there helpless as they watched, waited, and maybe even prayed that the ball would miss. They would plan their strategy for getting the rebound so they could recover, if necessary, from any points that were scored by the Tigers. Finally, as the clock had less than ten seconds on it, Kansas was only down by three points. They had possession of the ball, but they had to score a three-pointer or it was all over.

Mario Chalmers had possession of the ball and we all held our breath as it sailed through the air from just past the three point line. Then it came, the swish of the basketball through the net! I could not believe it! I jumped up and down, yelled, and cried. What a moment! I can only imagine how the players on each team must have felt when that ball went through the hoop. The Tigers had less than two seconds to try to score, but they were unable to accomplish that. The game went into overtime.

Unfortunately, the five minutes of overtime play were not near as exciting as the last five minutes of regulation play. The Jayhawks managed to gain and maintain their lead throughout the entire overtime period. The amazing shot by Chalmers was the high point of this game. The Tigers tried to gain the upper hand during overtime and even as the last minute counted down, it looked as though they could still pull off a win.

As they missed shot after shot, it became apparent that the Jayhawks had won it. I believe that if the Tigers had not missed so many free throw opportunities, they would have won this game. As anti-climatic as the conclusion of the game was, this was a fabulous match up between two excellent teams. Their playing throughout all of regulation play was one of the best that I have seen. This is a game that will be talked about for years to come as one of the best games in the history of NCAA basketball.