The Jayhawks (36-3) moved into tomorrow night's NCAA championship game against Memphis, which defeated UCLA, 78-63, in the first game last night.
A good portion of the huge Kansas delegation got warmed up early by booing North Carolina coach Roy Williams, who coached the Jayhawks for 15 seasons before taking over the helm of the Tar Heels in 2003. But the boos turned to loud and sustained cheers because of their team's start.
The Jayhawks led, 40-12, with 6 minutes, 48 seconds to play in the first half. Self called it "the best 15 [minutes] I've ever had anybody play because you're playing against the No. 1 seed in the tournament on the biggest stage."
At one point in the first half, the Tar Heels (36-3), who averaged 93 points in their previous four tournament games while shooting nearly 57 percent from the field, missed 12 consecutive shots and went without a field goal for more than nine minutes.
But Self never got comfortable, and neither did his players. Good thing, too, because North Carolina took a big chunk out of the deficit in the final stages of the half to get to within 44-27, and really made it interesting after a 14-0 run narrowed the deficit to four, 54-50, with 11:15 to play.
The Jayhawks came up empty on 11 straight possessions, turning the ball over on seven of them. But they still had faith.
"We were definitely still confident," said Brandon Rush, who led the Jayhawks with 25 points. "I knew somebody was going to step up and make a play."
"They just kept fighting, and we made a lot of mental mistakes," forward Darnell Jackson added. "But after that, a lot of guys hooked up and were making unbelievable plays."
