Rock. Chalk. Championship.
As a proud Kansas University Alum, Paul Pierce had to be in the building on Monday night as the Kansas Men’s Basketball team took on The University of North Carolina in the NCAA Division I Championship Game. And the 2021-2022 Jayhawks delivered a moment Paul dreamed about for he and his KU teammates from 1995-1998.
Kansas defeated UNC 72-69 to win the fourth D-1 Men’s Basketball championship in program history. Giving The Truth a chance to celebrate with his fellow alumni.
Paul spoke to the Jayhawks the night before the championship game and told him what they were doing meant to everyone associated with the program.
“You all represent guys like me who didn’t have a chance to play in this game,” he said in a speech to the team. “When you all go out there, I feel like I’m winning.”
The back and forth battle between Kansas and UNC wasn’t quite what The Truth predicted before the game.
In fact, the Jayhawks found themselves down by that 15-point margin at halftime. But they rallied in the second half, shots started falling and they kept getting stops, trimming away at UNC’s lead. Just eight minutes into the second half they had the deficit down to just one point.
From there, over the last 12 minutes, it was a battle. Kansas had a six-point lead with 10 minutes left, but North Carolina kept fighting back, forcing multiple ties. The Tarheels took the lead inside two minutes, but back-to-back buckets by David McCormack a minute apart, along with some huge stops forced by the Jayhawks defense pushed Kansas to the historic win.
It was the Jayhawks’ first men’s basketball national championship since 2008. I wonder who else last won a championship that season…
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