SAN ANTONIO — Maybe Roy Williams understands now what Kansas fans felt like five years ago. Trampled on. Left behind. Humiliated. For 20 remarkable minutes at the Alamodome on Saturday night, that’s exactly what their Jayhawks did to his top-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels.
Five years after Williams bolted Kansas for his alma mater, the teams met on college basketball’s biggest stage. The Jayhawks responded by putting on a performance that topped anything Williams, Larry Brown or even Phog Allen ever experienced, let alone Williams’ replacement, Bill Self.
The Jayhawks bolted to a remarkable 28-point first-half lead, blew all but four of it, then stepped on the Tar Heels for good in a stunning 84-66 rout in the Final Four. Kansas (36-3) will meet Memphis (38-1), two of the unprecedented four top seeds that made it here, on Monday night for the national title.
The Tar Heels’ halfcourt defense, their lone perceived weakness, was no match for Kansas’ stable of lightning-quick perimeter players. The Jayhawks shot 53 percent, with 50 of their 84 points coming in the paint. Kansas flew around the statue-like Tar Heels for easy layups, back-door feeds and uncontested jumpers.
Kansas’ defense forced North Carolina into 10 first-half turnovers and held it to 29 percent shooting.
In one astonishing 6 1/2-minute span, Kansas outscored the nation’s second highest-scoring team, 18-0, for a 33-10 lead it would eventually stretch to 40-12 with 6:48 left in the half. A 28-point lead on North Carolina? Kansas wasn’t this dominating in in its first-round game against Portland State.
“Best 15 I’ve ever had anybody play,” Self said, “because you’re playing against the No. 1 seed in the tournament on the biggest stage.”
Said Williams: “Early in the game they were much more aggressive than we were. We sort of came out a little more casual than we’d like to. They hit us right between the eyes.”
North Carolina cut the lead to 44-27 by halftime and Self warned his Jayhawks that the Tar Heels would make a run. He didn’t say they’d make a sprint. The Tar Heels’ defense awoke from its coma and forced seven turnovers in less than five minutes. The Jayhawks all but fell apart. Sasha Kahn and Sherron Collins committed charges, Darnell Jackson traveled, North Carolina’s Wayne Ellington made a steal.
You name it, and the Jayhawks did it. When Ellington hit a back-door layup with 11:15 left, North Carolina trailed only 54-50.
“Sometimes when we’re up a lot on teams, guys keep looking up at the scoreboard and can’t believe we’re up that much,” Jackson said. “We can’t do that because sometimes guys get satisfied. You can see the last four minutes. We went brain- dead for a little bit.”
Down only 64-59, however, North Carolina picked up its defensive pratfall where it left off in the first half. Kansas scored five straight baskets on either layups or dunks for a safe 80-61 advantage. Brandon Rush scored seven of his game-high 25 points during that stretch.
Tar Heels center Tyler Hansbrough wasn’t much of a factor. He scored 17 points and had nine rebounds but was heavily double-teamed and during one extended stretch in the first half was shut down by Kansas freshman Cole Aldrich.
While KU fans booed Williams in pregame introductions and chortled all the way out of the dome, the Jayhawks’ players weren’t joining in. Williams didn’t recruit them. Unlike their fans, they don’t remember him.
“When you’re in the eye of the storm, you don’t know what’s going on around you,” Self said. “Our players don’t know how our fans feel. Hopefully for everybody’s sake, that’s over. That’s done. And we can move forward.”
All the way to the national title game.
John Henderson: 303-954-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com
