Jayhawks use size, shooting to beat ’Cats

McCormack, Agbaji lead No. 1 seed to win

NEW ORLEANS — Kansas and Villanova waged a memorable 3-point shooting contest at the Final Four, one of them racing out to a big lead in the opening minutes and the other spending the rest of the night trying in vain to catch up. Probably sounds a little familiar. But in a rematch of a rout by the Wildcats four years ago in San Antonio, it was the Jayhawks joyously walking off the court after the final buzzer Saturday night. David McCormack muscled his way to 25 points, Ochai Agbaji was nearly perfect from the field to finish with 21, and the lone No. 1 seed to reach the national semifinals rolled to an 81-65 victory.

“This is what we were planning to do that season,” said Agbaji, who was 6-for-7 from beyond the arc in Saturday night’s shootout. “Everyone that was on that team, this is for them and they know it just as much as us.”

Now, the Jayhawks (33-6) hope to follow a familiar pattern against North Carolina on Monday night in the championship game. The last three times the Jayhawks and Wildcats have met in the tournament, the winner went on to win it all.

“You come to Kansas for big games,” said Christian Braun, “but you don’t come to Kansas to play in the Elite Eight. You don’t come to Kansas to play in the Final Four. You come to play for a national championship.”

Playing without injured guard Justin Moore, Villanova (31-7) watched as Kansas scored the game’s first 10 points and eventually built a 19-point cushion. And despite big nights from Collin Gillespie, Brandon Slater and Jermaine Samuels, the Wildcats never made it all the way back.

“They played great. They were well-prepared. They really executed,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “We did a lot of things wrong, but we want to make sure they get the credit they deserve. They played a great game.”

Each team finished with 13 3-pointers, and the 26 made shots from beyond the arc set a record for a Final Four game, topping the 25 that the same two teams made in 2018 at the Alamodome.

Unlike that night, though, it was the Jayhawks who pounced on Villanova at the start.

“We got off to such a great start in large part because of how we shot the ball,” Kansas coach Bill Self said.

The Wildcats had one last run in them, getting a three-point play from Samuels to close within 64-58 with just over 6 minutes left. But McCormack once more answered for Kansas and Braun followed his own bucket with a three as the shot clock expired, giving the Jayhawks plenty of breathing room down the stretch.

Brynn Anderson The Associated Press Kansas guard Remy Martin celebrates after hitting a 3-pointer against Villanova in Saturday’s national semifinal game.