Jayhawks gain measure of revenge for 2018 loss
This time they win a three-point shootout with the Wildcats to reach the title game.
NEW ORLEANS — Kansas and Villanova waged a memorable three-point shooting contest at the Final Four, one of them racing out to a big lead and the other spending the rest of the night trying to catch up. 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 Saturday night. David McCormack muscled his way for 25 points, Ochai Agbaji was nearly perfect from the field and finished 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 six for seven from beyond the arc. “Everyone that was on that team, this is for them.”
The Jayhawks (33-6) hope to follow a familiar pattern Monday night. The last three times the Jayhawks and Wildcats met in the tournament, the winner has gone on to win it all.
“You come to Kansas for big games,” said Christian Braun, who also had 10 points, “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 first 10 points and built a 19-point cushion. And despite big nights from Collin Gillespie, Brandon Slater and Jermaine Samuels, the short-handed and undersized Wildcats never made it all the way back.
Gillespie, playing in his 156th and final game for the Wildcats, hit five threes and finished with 17 points, while
Slater hit four threes and had 16 points. Samuels finished with 13 points.