March Madness was through and through a thriller this year. I’ve never really been a fan of watching March Madness, but this year, for some odd reason, it drew me in. Maybe it was the upsets that Saint Peter’s was delivering left and right, and maybe it was the thrillers that we’re coming out of the left field for many of the games. We saw a majority of the top-tiered teams knocked out by the lower-rated teams, and that’s always gonna be good television.
This year, I was inclined to watch almost every game my television provider was showing. I was able to catch quite a few UNC games, as they are my favorite team from childhood (my father had a role in that), and boy, was I happy to see their progression throughout the tournament. Their best game in my opinion was the game against Duke, in which I find they played their best basketball as a team and played a full 40 minutes.
Against Kansas, the Tar Heels came out flat, falling 7-0 in the first couple of minutes. Leave it to my man Brady Manek, a three-point shooting machine, to hit the first shot of the game for UNC. From there, the Tar Heels found their rhythm and tempo, dictating most of the game, and forcing Kansas to play their style of basketball.
Caleb Love was on fire, and Brady Manek was arguably one of the fiercest UNC players on the floor in the first half. Together, they lit up the first quarter, as well as star player Armando Bacot, who was rebounding and stuffing like there was no tomorrow. By the end of the first quarter, the Tar Heels had established a 15-point lead, winning 40-25.
Although UNC had a pretty comfortable cushion, it was nothing to rest on, and deep down many fans knew that Kansas Head Coach Bill Self would motivate his team to a point where they’d come out firing, and that’s exactly what they did. Kansas came out in the second quarter, fueled by their PG Christian Braun, who seemingly made bucket after bucket to trim the UNC lead.
After a couple of sloppy possessions, and an injury to Bacot, Kansas had worked the lead down, to a couple of points, and after a couple of clutch buckets by a sniper Remy Martin from three-point range, Kansas seemed to have turned a tide and gotten a hold of the game. Brady Manek was still shooting threes and trying to keep UNC into it, but alas, it was no use.
As time was winding down, Kansas held the lead, and with a minute left UNC was trying to force shots to go in, but nothing was doing. Caleb Love took responsibility, threw some shots up, but nothing was going, and sadly, the #8 seed fell to the #1 seed, and Kansas are the new National Champs!
Both teams played a great game, and the boys on both sides left it all on the floor, but ultimately, it came down to which team was coached better in the second half, and Bill Self deserves a huge pat on the back for that. Here’s to Kansas!