Jayhawks coach Bill Self says KU, UNC, Duke, ‘Nova bring this to the 2022 Final Four
College basketball bluebloods Kansas, North Carolina and Duke will be joined by modern-day hoops powerhouse Villanova at this weekend’s Final Four in New Orleans.
Fans of these four schools are known to travel well during the postseason. And they’re accustomed to seeing their teams vie for national championships.
Villanova claimed NCAA Tournament titles most recently in 2018 and 2016 and, before that, in 1985. Duke won it all in 2015 to go with tourney-format championships in 2010, 2001, 1992 and 1991. UNC took the national title most recently in 2017 and also won it all in 2009, 2005, 1993, 1982 and 1957.
Kansas was the last team standing in 2008, 1988 and 1952.
“I think this will be a more talked about tournament and probably a more anticipated tournament,” Jayhawks coach Bill Self said after KU’s 76-50 Elite Eight victory over Miami on Sunday, “because we didn’t have one two years ago and last year’s wasn’t attended (by fans because of COVID-19 pandemic). That’ll add to the excitement as well.”
The Jayhawks (32-6), the top seed in the Midwest Regional, will play Villanova (30-7), the No. 2 seed in the South, in one national semifinal at 5:09 p.m. Saturday at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. Duke (32-6), the No. 2 seed in the West Regional, will meet North Carolina (28-9), the No. 8 seed in the East Regional, in a game scheduled to start 30 minutes after the conclusion of the KU-Nova matchup.
Of Villanova, a team that has reached the Final Four in three of the past six years, Self said: “Villanova without question has been the premier program in America the last two three or whatever number of years. (Coach) Jay (Wright) has obviously done a great job.”
Villanova defeated KU in the Elite Eight in 2016 and Final Four in 2018 en route to national titles. KU beat the Wildcats in the Sweet 16 in 2008 en route to its own national championship.
Since the 2018 tourney game, the Wildcats and Jayhawks have split a pair of contests: KU stopped Villanova 74-71 in December 2018 at Allen Fieldhouse, then lost 56-55 in December 2019 at Philadelphia.
Villanova reached this year’s Final Four by topping Houston 50-44 on Saturday in San Antonio.
“It feels great to be back in the Final Four. It never gets old,” Wright said Sunday. “It is every player and coach’s dream in college basketball. It’s the ultimate.”
The Wildcats announced Sunday that Justin Moore, the team’s second-leading scorer, would miss the Final Four. He tore his Achilles tendon in the final minutes of Nova’s regional final win over Houston..
“It’s a hard blow to all of us, not just because of the great player Justin is, but because of what it means to us as teammates and coaches,” Wright said. “As one of our captains, Justin has been an integral part of our success.”
Villanova exhibited great defense against Houston. Meanwhile, Miami scored just 15 points to KU’s 47 in the second half Sunday. That marks the fewest points allowed by Kansas in one half of an NCAA Tournament game since KU gave up just 14 to Rice in the first half of the 1940 regional semifinals, a 50-44 KU win. Kansas held Providence to 17 in the first half of a 66-61 win on Friday.
KU’s 26-point win over Miami marked the largest victory margin in the Elite Eight by any team since 1992 — that year, Cincinnati drubbed Memphis State by 31, 88-57, and Indiana smashed UCLA by 30, 106-76.
And the Jayhawks’ victory margin was the largest for a team that had trailed an NCAA Tournament game at halftime. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Princeton in 1964 defeated VMI by 26 points (86-60) in a first-round game after trailing by a point at halftime.
“We moved the ball well. We got easy baskets,” Self said of Sunday’s second-half performance against the Hurricanes.
Now, Self said, some rest was on the immediate agenda.
“We’ll enjoy this. We are on a high now,” Self said of the Jayhawks, who are on a season-best nine-game win streak. “We’ll crash tonight and probably tomorrow. This is the highlight of everyone’s career as a coach or player. I want our guys to enjoy it.”
KU will leave for New Orleans on Wednesday, practice and meet with the media there on Thursday and Friday, then play Saturday. The winners will remain in New Orleans for Monday’s NCAA title game.
“We need about four days off,” Self said. “Can’t wait to get to New Orleans.”
This story was originally published March 28, 2022 at 11:08 AM.
