KU rings up Big 12's first Conference call

SAN ANTONIO -- No better way to celebrate the anniversary of your most recent national championship by winning another one in spectacular, can-you-believe-that-comeback fashion.

Twenty years and three days after winning its second national title as a No. 6 seed, Kansas conjured a miraculous comeback to stun Memphis, 75-68, in overtime Monday night in the Alamodome.

Kansas’ victory gives the Big 12 Conference, which is in its 12th season, its first national championship in men's basketball.

Kansas (37-3) trailed 60-51 with 2:12 remaining. Keep in mind that the biggest halftime deficit overcome in a national championship game is 10 points.

"We made so many plays down the stretch,"’ Kansas coach Bill Self said. "I don’t know if we played well or we played bad. But we won."

Memphis, which had quieted critics who claimed it couldn’t overcome its shoddy free throw shooting, had made 70 percent of its free throws in the NCAA Tournament. But with a chance to send Kansas back to Lawrence with a disappointing loss, the Tigers missed four of their last five from the line over the final 1:15.

"It came back and bit us,"’ said Memphis' Chris Douglas-Roberts, who missed three consecutive free throws. "We missed 'em at a crucial time. But we still had a three-point lead with 10 seconds to go."

Memphis' Robert Dozier, whose three offensive rebounds over the last five minutes had been huge, made two from the line with 2:12 remaining to give the Tigers a 60-51 lead.

When Kansas was up 40-12 in Saturday's semifinal, CBS Sports basketball analyst Billy Packer said it was over. It was. But the national championship game was a different story.

"I thought we were national champs," Memphis coach John Calipari said. "They make a play, its OT and it's on again. We were up five and we're supposed to win that game."

Mario Chalmers capped Kansas' regulation rally. The Anchorage native served up some baked Alaska. His 3-pointer over Derrick Rose with 2.1 seconds remaining created the extra period -- the first in the title game since 1997.

Brandon Rush's layup following a Sherron Collins steal gave Kansas the OT lead. Darrell Arthur (20 points, 10 rebounds) followed with a dunk from a Chalmers pass to make it 67-63.

Memphis got within 71-68 but Kansas clinched with four-for-four from the line.

It was a game one would expect from two No. 1 seeds. The biggest lead of the game was Memphis' nine-point edge at 2:12; Kansas' biggest lead was its final margin.

The Jayhawks' defense turned Memphis' Dribble Drive Motion offense into Dribble Turnover Miss. Kansas' bigs were able to jump out and help their guards without worrying about the Tigers' inside players.

Joey Dorsey scored Memphis' first basket down low but scoring in the paint dried up after that.

What was a negative for Memphis was a huge positive for Kansas. The Jayhawks had a 44-26 edge in points scored in the paint.

Freshman Derrick Rose withered until the game's final 12 minutes.

Rose made a bid to become this year's version of Carmelo Anthony when he scored 14 of his team’s 16 points to put the Tigers in control.

His final field goal was his most spectacular. With three seconds on the shot clock, he stumbled collecting a pass as he was headed away from the basket. He rose, turned and fired a shot.

It banked home with 4:15 remaining and gave Memphis a 56-49 lead.

The shot originally was signaled as a 3-point shot by official Ed Hightower. It was changed to a 2-point shot after an instant replay review showed Rose was inside the line when he left his feet.

"We got a break when the three went to two and nobody really knew it at the time," Self said.