Kansas wins national title

The Kansas Jayhawks (37-3) defeated the Memphis Tigers (38-2) by a score of 75-68 to win the 2008 men’s basketball championship.

Kansas fell behind early after costly turnovers, but managed to take a five point lead in to halftime. Memphis tied the game early in the second half and held a nine point lead with 2:12 remaining before KU stole an inbounds pass and Sherron Collins naied a three-pointer from the corner to cut the lead to six.

Kansas then used a little strategy and rolled the dice by sending Memphis to the free throw line. On the season, Memphis shot less than 60 percent from the line, and tonight they missed four crucial free throws at the end of the game that allowed Kansas to cut the lead to three with 10 seconds remaining.

Mario Chalmers hit the game-tying three-pointer with two seconds remaining and Memphis’s Robert Dozier missed a desperation shot as time expired to send the game to overtime.

Overtime belonged to the Jayhawks, who outscored the Tigers 12-6 in the extra period. KU went 4-6 fom the floor and 4-4 from the charity stripe in overtime.

Darrell Arthur’s 20 points and 10 rebounds led the Jayhawks. Mario Chalmers added 18 points, 4 steals and 3 assists, but no shot was more important than his three-pointer at the end of regulation. Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 22 points and Derrick Rose had 18 for Memphis.

This title is the first for the Jayhawks since 1988 when “Danny (Manning) and the Miracles” beat Oklahoma in the title game.