The senior-laden Jayhawks trailed the Tar Heels 40-25 at halftime before rallying to win their fourth national title.
Eddie Pells Associated Press NEW ORLEANS — Kansas brought its fourth NCAA title back home Monday thanks to a second-half flurry that erased a 16-point deficit and eventually overcame North Carolina 72-69 in an epic battle of power programs.
That put Brady Manek, not as good a defender, on McCormack, and the Kansas big man backed in Manek for the shot that put the Jayhawks ahead by three. Carolina had scored 16 straight points late in the first half to open a 40-25 advantage at the break, but top-seeded KU went on a 31-10 run over the opening 10 minutes of the second to take a six-point lead and set up a fantastic finish.
Instead, the Tar Heels fell one win short and dropped to 6-6 all-time in title games. This was their record 21st — and possibly most unlikely — trip to the Final Four. They made it to the final by beating Duke in a back-and-forth thriller and sending Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski into retirement.Instead, another will hang at Allen Fieldhouse, and McCormack, thanks to his late-game heroics, will go down in KU lore along with Mario Chalmers, Danny Manning and the rest of the Kansas greats.
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