Kansas Fans Celebrate Victory!

Rock Chalk Nation is still celebrating KU’s improbable national championship victory. The game never featured more than a 9 point lead for either team. After playing a tight first half, Kansas fans watched in disbelief as the 5-point halftime lead was quickly erased just 90 seconds into the second-half.

The play of Memphis guards Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts was dominating at times. CDR scored 22 points but missed critical free throws down the stretch to leave the door open for KU. Despite Derrick Rose’s impressive 18 point performance, he too failed to convert freebies at the end of regulation that could have put Kansas away.

Kansas never gave up and worked hard defensively to create offensive opportunities to get themselves back into the game. A key play came with just over one minute remaining in regulation and Kansas down 7 points. Guard Sherron Collins stole an inbounds pass and hit a 3-pointer from the corner, cutting the Memphis lead to 4. The play re-energized the team and gave hope to the Kansas faithful who were praying for a miracle. After two missed free throw opportunities by CDR, a basket by Kansas forward Darrel Aruthr cut the lead down to just 2. After Rose converted just 1 out of 2 free throws, the door was left open for Kansas.

With just over 10 seconds left, Sherron Collins quickly dribbled up the court and passed to Kansas guard Mario Chalmers who shot from beyond the arc at the top of the key. Mario Chalmers’ 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left will go down as one of the biggest shots in Kansas’ rich basketball history.

Kansas never looked back.

Their dominating performance in overtime crushed a dejected Memphis squad who had seen its strangle-hold on the game evaporate. The story of the game might be the missed free throws by Memphis down the stretch, but without suffocating defense, timely buckets and perseverance, Kansas would not have been able to pull this one out.