Kansas may have entered this year’s NCAA Tournament as the least-heralded No. 1 seed, but they sure have turned out to be the best team in the Big Dance thus far.
The Jayhawks whipped the Villanova Wildcats 81-65 on Saturday to lock up a spot in Monday’s championship game. They got out to an early 10-0 start, setting the tone for a dominant victory where they led every single minute of the game.
Ochai Agbaji and David McCormack got the game started for Kansas by combining to score the first 10 points of the game. They continued their hot ways, with McCormack leading the team with 25 points and Agbaji second with 21.
As a team, Kansas was hot: they made 53.7 percent of their shots, including a whopping 54.2 percent on threes. Agbaji made 6/7 three-point attempts in the game.
In fairness, we should have seen this coming.
Kansas won their first-round game by 27 points. They beat Creighton by 7 in the second round, never trailing in the second half. They led a tough Providence team for around double-digits most of their Sweet 16 game and won by five. They trailed Miami by six at halftime but blitzed the Canes in the second half and won 76-50 in a laugher.
No other team has been more in control all tournament than Kansas.
Now the Jayhawks are back in the championship game for the third time under Bill Self. They’re hoping to win their second championship under Self and fourth overall. If they play like they did today, they’ll end up as champs.
Photo: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
