Ten years to the day after it lost to Kentucky in the 2012 national title game inside the Superdome in New Orleans, Kansas secured its spot in the 2022 NCAA Tournament championship game on Saturday by beating Villanova 81-65 in a Final Four matchup inside the same venue. The victory sends the No. 2 seed Jayhawks on to play either Duke or North Carolina on Monday night as KU pursues its first national championship since 2008.
Kansas jumped out to a 38-19 lead in the first half against the shorthanded Wildcats but was tested from there as Villanova found its footing and drew within 64-58 with 6:10 remaining. The Jayhawks used a quick 11-1 run from there to surge back ahead and avoid late drama.
David McCormack posted a season-high 25 points while helping Kansas dominate the paint 32-16. The senior center sat the final 6:02 of the first half due to foul trouble, which is when Villanova made a run to close within 40-29 at halftime. Ultimately, the early 19-point deficit proved too large for Villanova to erase in the second half. With starting shooting guard Justin Moore sidelined after suffering a season-ending Achilles injury in the Elite Eight, the Wildcats struggled to keep pace with a KU team that shot 53.7%.
Ochai Agabji hit his first six 3-point attempts of the game for Kansas and did not miss a long-range attempt until 2:04 remained in the game. The senior wing added 21 points to compliment McCormack. As a team, Kansas hit 13 of 24 attempts from 3-point range.
Immaculate start
After outscoring Miami 47-15 in the second half of an Elite Eight victory on Sunday, the Jayhawks picked up where they left off with an electric start against Villanova. As the Wildcats searched for their footing without Moore in the starting lineup for the first time all season, Kansas delivered a quick punch to the gut. Agbaji opened the scoring with a 3-pointer, and in less than three minutes, he and McCormack combined to put the Jayhawks up 10-0.
Villanova never drew within closer than six for the rest of the game. Defense also played a key role for KU in the opening minutes. Villanova, which entered averaging just 9.9 turnovers per game, turned it over six times in the first 10:18. Those blunders allowed the Jayhawks to set the game's pace to their liking.
Such a dominant stretch against Miami was one thing. But to open a Final Four game against Villanova with a run of total dominance showed that Kansas is in a groove as it prepares to play for a national title.
David McCormack's best version
McCormack has never been particularly consistent during his Kansas career, but when he's at his best, he can be downright dominant. Such was the case Saturday against a Villanova team that struggled to match his length inside. It was a welcome sight as the Jayhawks plowed through their third Big East opponent of this Big Dance.
Against Creighton in the second round and Providence in the Sweet 16, McCormack combined to shoot just 4 of 13 from the floor while totaling just eight rebounds in a total of 48 minutes. That ineffective version of McCormack seemed like a distant memory against Villanova. In addition to his 25 points, McCormack's nine rebounds were the most he's posted during the NCAA Tournament.
McCormack began to break out against Miami with a 6-of-7 shooting performance, but he played just 18 minutes against a guard-oriented Hurricanes. He logged 30 on Saturday and made the most of them. He is now 16 of 19 from the floor over KU's past two games.
Villanova's run ends
Villanova will look back and wish it could do the first 15 minutes of Saturday's game over again. After the point when it trailed 38-19 late in the first half, the Wildcats actually outscored Kansas 46-43. In an ideal world for the Wildcats, 46-43 might have been the final score -- not the sum of the game's final 15 minutes.
Coach Jay Wright's club prefers a methodical pace and is more comfortable in a low-scoring game. Look no further than their 50-44 win over Houston last weekend as a blueprint. But Villanova let KU establish the tempo early. Ultimately, that forced the Wildcats into an offensive firefight, and they could not keep up.
Still, it marks three Final Four appearances in the last six NCAA Tournaments for Villanova. The Wildcats can take pride in how they clawed back from a seemingly insurmountable early hole to make it a game in the second half.