Kansas found a way to overcome a virtuoso stretch of play by Derrick Rose and sank an unlikely shot that not only forced overtime, but took the fight out of Memphis Monday night.
The Jayhawks' Mario Chalmers sank a three-point basket with 2.1 seconds left in regulation to cap a comeback from a nine-point deficit, and Kansas got four key points from Brandon Rush in overtime to defeat the Tigers, 75-68, and win its third national championship.
"We got the ball in our most clutch player's hands and he delivered," Kansas coach Bill Self said of Chalmers' big shot.
The win for Kansas (37-3), before a crowd of 43,257 at the Alamodome, gave the Jayhawks their third national championship and first since 1988, when Larry Brown led them to the title.
The Jayhawks trailed 60-51 with 2:12 to play but outscored the Tigers 12-3 until the regulation buzzer, helped in part by Memphis' 1-of-5 free-throw shooting in the final 1:15.
Chalmers, who finished with 18 points, sent the crowd, the majority of which was made up of Kansas fans, into hysterics with his three-point basket. It came after Memphis star Rose made just one of two free throws with 10.8 seconds to play, giving the Jayhawks one last chance.
"I had a good look at it and it went in," Chalmers said.
Baskets by Rush, Darrell Arthur and Darnell Jackson in the first two minutes of overtime gave Kansas a six-point lead and gave the Jayhawks enough of a cushion to stave off the Tigers (38-2), who were gunning for their first national championship.
A three-point basket by Chris Douglas-Roberts provided a last gasp for the Tigers, bringing them to within 71-68 with 56.8 seconds to play, but Kansas hit four free throws down the stretch.
Arthur led the Jayhawks with 20 points. Douglas-Roberts scored 22 and Rose added 18 for Memphis. Rose had 14 of his points in a stretch of less than eight minutes that helped the Tigers build their nine-point advantage.
Thanks to some bad free-throw shooting by Memphis, the Jayhawks rallied from a nine-point deficit to force overtime. They trailed 60-51 after the Tigers' Robert Dozier sank both ends of a one-and-one.
After the Jayhawks cut the deficit to 62-56, the Tigers, who shot only 61.7 percent from the line during the season, missed four of their last five free throws. Douglas-Roberts, a 71 percent shooter, bricked the front end of a one-and-one, then failed to hit either of his two free throws with 16.8 seconds to play.
Arthur hit a fallaway jumper for Kansas to make it 62-60 with one minute to play. The Jayhawks had a chance to tie on their next possession, but Sherron Collins was stripped going to the basket.
Memphis had a chance to add to its lead, but Douglas-Roberts missed two free throws. Dozier got the rebound on the second one and the ball found the hands of Rose, but he managed only one of two free throws to make it a three-point game with 10.8 seconds to play.
That's when Chalmers nailed his three-ball with 2.1 seconds left to force the extra period.
Rose had only one basket in the game's first 27 minutes, missing five of his six shots. He seemed more content to set up his teammates - he had four assists in the first half.
But with the Tigers trailing 43-40 at the 13-minute mark, Rose decided to become more assertive, starting with three consecutive baskets - a drive, a layup off a pretty move from behind the backboard, and a three-pointer - to give Memphis a 49-47 lead with 8:11 to play. The field goals came in the middle of a 10-0 run.
Rose had another stretch of three consecutive baskets a short time later, including an 18-footer that just beat the shot-clock buzzer. The lead expanded to nine after a basket by Shawn Taggert and two free throws by Dozier.
The Jayhawks' defense bothered the Tigers in general, and Rose in particular, in the first half, and Kansas rode that effort to a 33-28 halftime lead. Memphis did not score in the final 4:54 of the half.
Memphis, which was averaging 8.4 turnovers through five tournament games, committed six miscues in the opening half alone. Rose was responsible for three of them, often trying to force the issue against Collins or Russell Robinson.
After scoring 25 points in Saturday night's semifinal game, Rose managed just three points on 1-of-4 shooting in the opening half Monday night, although the superb freshman did have four rebounds and four assists. Douglas-Roberts picked up the scoring slack with 13 points.
The Jayhawks also outplayed the Tigers inside, outrebounding them 19-11 and holding a 24-8 edge in points in the paint. They also got Memphis' three big men - starters Joey Dorsey and Dozier and sub Taggert - in foul trouble; all three had two fouls apiece at the break.
Arthur was very active on the inside, making 5 of 8 field goal attempts and leading Kansas with 10 points at the half. The Jayhawks shot 51.9 percent compared to 39.3 percent for the Tigers.
Kansas did not grab the lead until the midway point of the first half. Rush pushed his team in front for the first time on a drive from the wing, sparking an 11-2 run that ended when his alley-oop pass found Arthur for a dunk that made it 22-15 with 8:26 left in the period.
Chalmers scored five points in the spurt, successfully following his own missed shot to put Kansas in front, 24-18. The Tigers mounted their last offensive flurry of the half over the next three-plus minutes, scoring eight consecutive points to get the lead back.
Dozier drained his first three-ball of the NCAA Tournament to start the run, and Douglas-Roberts finished it with a nifty scoop shot over Rush and then knocked down a three-point basket, Memphis' only second-chance points of the entire half.
That gave the Tigers a 26-24 lead with 6:24 left. After Collins and Sasha Kaun scored for Kansas, Douglas-Roberts nailed another jumper from the right wing to tie it at 28 with 4:55 remaining, but that was all for Memphis in the first half.
The Jayhawks made just two of their last five shots of the half, but that was enough. Rush's three-point play and a hook shot by Arthur wrapped up the half for the Jayhawks.
