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2008 NCAA TOURNAMENT

Kansas Pulls Out NCAA Title Win In OT

Jayhawks Down Memphis 75-68

POSTED: 2:16 pm EDT April 6, 2008
UPDATED: 5:54 pm EDT April 8, 2008

After a buzzer beater and an overtime session, the Kansas Jayhawks showed they were the top No. 1 seed in the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

Kansas defeated fellow No. 1 seed Memphis 75-68 in overtime on Monday in San Antonio to win its first national crown in 20 years.

But the victory didn't come easy.

"If we played 10 times, it'd probably go five and five," Kansas head coach Bill Self said. "We got fortunate late."

The Kansas Jayhawks led the Memphis Tigers 33-28 at halftime.

But then the Tigers came back. Memphis chipped away at the Jayhawks' lead throughout the second half before taking the lead with a little more than eight minutes left. Once out in front, the Tigers didn't surrender the lead for the rest of the second half, although Kansas kept it close.

The Jayhawks trailed by just two points with less than a minute to play. Memphis freshman Derrick Rose went to the line with a chance to seal the victory but made only one of his two free throws.

Down 63-60, the Jayhawks' Mario Chalmers launched up a three-pointer in the fading seconds of regulation that tied the game at 63-63 to send it to overtime.

"We got the ball in our most clutch player's hands, and he delivered," Self said.

Kansas jumped out to a 69-63 lead in the extra session before Memphis battled back. The Tigers trimmed the lead to three with less than a minute to play before Kansas pulled away for good, securing the 75-68 victory.

The Tigers were led by standouts Chris Douglas-Roberts and Derrick Rose. All-American Douglas-Roberts tallied a game-high 22 points, while freshman Rose added 18 points.

Kansas was led by Darrell Arthur's 20 points and 10 rebounds. Chalmers -- who was named the most outstanding player of the championship game -- added 18 points, and Brandon Rush chipped in 12.



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