Stories from Mens NCAA Final Four

In case you missed it last night, Memphis squandered a 7 point lead with under 2 minutes to go by missing free throws. Then, Kansas shocked Memphis to the core in the final seconds of regulation when Mario Chalmers hit a three point jumper to tie the game and send it into overtime. Kansas dominated Memphis in overtime to take the win 75-68.

Here are four stories from the final four.

Memphis had won a record 38 games this season going into the NCAA title game. With less than 20 seconds left, up by 2 points, and with possession of the ball Memphis lost the title game. All 38 wins mean so much less today than they did yesterday. Memphis is in good company though, Duke, Illinois, and UNLV won 37 games in a single season, which was the record until Memphis broke it this year, but all three teams also failed to win it all in the same season they set the record for most wins.

Kansas scraped by Davidson, a small school from North Carolina, in the regional final eventually winning by 1 point. In the semi-final game Kansas got up to a 28-point lead against the University of North Carolina and eventually won by 18.

Under Coach Ben Howland, UCLA lost its third final four when Memphis paralyzed the Bruins top scorers Kevin Love and Darren Collison. Many reporters asked the question - what is it going to take to win it all? Some Bruin fans already know that Coach John Wooden 10 NCAA Championship wins came after Wooden and the Bruins lost in 3 NCAA Tournaments in the 1950’s and 2 NCAA Tournaments in the 1960’s.

Despite the ups and downs each team had all season, all four number 1 regional seeds made it to the final four. The NCAA selection committee picked the final four teams correctly for the first time ever.

This was one of the most entertaining NCAA Tournaments I have ever watched. Even USD managed to upset Connecticut in the opening round, let’s hope our teams fair better next year.

Tags: ben howland, davidson, john wooden, kansas, mario chalmers, memphis, ncaa, ucla, unc