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Sunday afternoon, you wanted the Kansas Jayhawks to join the other No. 1 seeds in the Final Four by unleashing a magnificent display of sculpted athletic ability and power. You wanted Bill Self’s Jayhawks to look as impressive as Roy Williams’ Tar Heels, John Calipari’s Tigers and Ben Howland’s Bruins.
Davidson refused to let it happen. For the better part of two hours at Ford Field, the undermanned and better-disciplined Wildcats walked the Jayhawks through a clinic on execution, effort and determination.
Davidson vs. Goliath was just that, and as the afternoon wore on, you felt a twinge of immorality rooting for the basketball mercenaries instead of the student-athletes. Sure, you wanted Self to exorcise his Final Four demon and KU’s seniors to make it to college sports’ grandest stage.
But you would’ve felt better about it had the top-seeded Jayhawks crushed the 10th-seeded Wildcats and created the impression that a Kansas victory was the only legitimate option. You didn’t want to think about it. You didn’t want to spend all day with a knot in your stomach and the creepy feeling that Davidson just might be the better team.
And then, in the final seconds, as Jason Richards unspooled a would-be game-winning three-pointer, you were emotionally down on the same knee as Self, praying that might would trump right.
Richards’ shot banged wide left, preserving Kansas’ 59-57 victory and, more embarrassingly, laying bare your win-at-any-cost mentality.
When it was over, your sigh of relief felt a bit empty, a little less satisfying than you’d imagined. You were happy the team you love escaped, but you were unimpressed with the route the Jayhawks climbed to safety.
Kansas’ cakewalk to the River Walk turned bittersweet on Sunday.
You were hard-pressed to find any evidence inside Ford Field that the champion of the Big 12 is superior to the champion of the Southern Conference. Kansas’ biggest lead was six points, and the boys from the tiny Carolina school of 1,700 students controlled the tempo, the action, from start to finish. With 16.8 seconds left, they had possession and the ball in the hands of the tournament’s best player, shooting star Stephen Curry.
Credit Kansas for denying Curry the game’s final shot. Other than that, thank the basketball gods for KU’s good fortune.
A trip to the Final Four should never taste sour, especially when you’ve knocked at its door four times and been denied, but Bill Self had the damnedest time explaining his emotions Sunday.
•“This game has a different feel to it than a lot of other games,” he said.
•“I don’t want to say we played poorly, because that takes away from Davidson,” he said.
•“Our guys didn’t handle it great, but we were tough enough to get the win, which is all that matters,” he said.
•And finally, Self said: “I would say instead of jubilation, it was probably more relief. You know, you picture the way you are winning a big game like that. You make a shot. You celebrate…. This was not one of those deals. I just wanted to make sure that I hurried up and shook hands and the officials left the court, so they couldn’t put any more time back on the clock.”
No. It would be dishonest to paint some lovely picture of Kansas’ 35th victory. Besides Sasha Kaun (13 points, six rebounds in 20 minutes), there were no heroic efforts on Sunday.
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