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WATCH: Stone-cold dagger sends Kansas to 10th national title game

ns_headshot_2024-clearby:Nick Schultz•04/02/22•

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Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images

It looked as though Kansas was going to have a hard time holding off Villanova in the second half. Then, Christian Braun entered the chat.

The Jayhawks, who led by 19 points at one point, saw their lead dwindle to six points with 6:10 to play and didn’t have much of an answer for the Wildcats’ zone defense. Then, with 3:58 to play, Braun — who hadn’t made a three-pointer yet — hit a stone-cold three pointer to make it a 12-point Kansas lead. That proved to be the dagger as the Jayhawks won 81-65 to advance to their 10th NCAA Tournament national title game in school history.

Despite Braun’s heroics, David McCormack and Ochai Agbaji were the stars of the night for Kansas. They combined for 46 of the Jayhawks’ 81 points — 19 from Agbaji and a career-high 23 for McCormack. The Jayhawks also had plenty of success from behind the three-point line, going 13-for-24 from downtown. That proved to be the difference as Villanova rattled off some late runs to make things interesting.

For the Wildcats, they ran a six-man rotation of all five starters and only Bryan Antoine off the bench. Three starters — Collin Gillespie, Brandon Slater and Caleb Daniels — reached double figures, led by 17 points from Gillespie. The trio combined for 46 of Villanova’s 65 points as the Wildcats shot 38.6% from the floor, including 41.9% from three-point distance.

It was a stark contrast to the last time the two teams faced off in the Final Four in 2018 when Villanova shot the lights out to advance to the national title game. The Wildcats, of course, ended up winning that national championship over Michigan.

But this time around, it’s Bill Self’s group advancing to the national championship. It’s Kansas’ 10th national title game appearance and its first since 2012 when the Jayhawks lost to Kentucky — ironically, in New Orleans, which is where this year’s game is being played. They’ll face the winner of Duke vs. North Carolina, which tips off at 8:49 p.m. ET Saturday night.