Ty Watches the 2022 Mens College Basketball Championship
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The men's NCAA title game was quite the event last night. It was played in a football stadium, it was filled to the brim, there were a ton of famous people and alums of each school and the game itself was pretty gratifying, especially for this viewer who had no skin in the game.
I hoped for a good, close game, and when that second half started, that is exactly what I got. The first half was pretty one sided. Kansas came out and scored the first seven points, but then UNC took over. They calmed down, hit some shots, and before I knew it they were up 16, at 38-22. They went on an incredible scoring run. They went 38-15 after being shut out for the first few minutes. And they looked like they could not be stopped. While KU settled, UNC attacked. They went inside, which opened up the outside, and UNC feasted. At one point they scored 16 unanswered points. When it went to half, UNC was up 40-25.
I thought we might be in for a blowout, but I still wanted to see the start of the second half. Basketball is a game of runs, and KU has shown all tourney long that they seem to rev it up after halftime. That is precisely what happened. KU came out and attacked. They became the aggressors. They got to the rim seemingly at will. The layups they missed in the first half were falling. UNC was fouling. Things started to turn around. The lead was cut to 12, then 10, then 7, then 4. Before too long KU cut the lead to 1. UNC would answer each run though. KU would cut it to 1, UNC would follow with a dunk or a 3 to stretch it to two possessions. But KU kept going. They stopped settling and kept attacking. They were passing up threes for layups and dunks. The attacking nature in the second half then opened up the outside shot. This was where super transfer Remy Martin showed up. He nailed three big time 3 pointers in the second half. He made big shot after big shot. Ochi Agbaji started to hit shots as well. He stopped shooting mid range shots and threes, and went to the rim. He was making shots and getting fouled. He was getting 3 points the old fashioned way. KU's big man, Tim McCormack, started to own the paint. Armando Bacot played a hell of a game too. That kid was everywhere for UNC last night. But he could not stop McCormack. He was playing hurt, and the second half showed that. He also got far less touches. Brady Manek was not making his usual shots either. He played great defense, but he just couldn't put the ball in the bucket. Caleb Love, who has been sensational all tourney, had a very poor and unfortunate shooting night. RJ Davis kept UNC in it, but he had to put up a ton of shots. And Puff Johnson, even though he hurled during the game, played one hell of a game off the bench. But KU kept grinding and getting to the basket and playing world class defense. Their defense in the second half was a thing of beauty to a basketball nerd such as myself. They played tight defense up and down the floor. KU's guards were making life miserable for UNC's guards. UNC kept trying to pick and roll, but KU's guards were jumping screens and fighting every time. McCormack would not let Bacot get his touches. They flustered UNC in that second half. It was a clinic.
All in all this was a very well played, hard fought title game. I was glad I stayed up to watch the whole thing. I feel for the UNC fans and players and coaches. But I am also happy for the KU players and fans, not so much their coaches. But I want to extend a big thank you to UNC and KU for putting up a wonderful, down to the wire title game. I love it when they are close like this. A blowout is not fun. Last night was fun. A well played game won by a very deserving Jayhawks team. Congrats.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.