A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW

NBA / Basketball

Written by Eddie Huband

Well, we’re down to just two, like Kansas and North Carolina square off tonight for the 2022 NCAA national championship.

It’s not the final most were expecting, and these two teams have had very different paths to get here, but nonetheless, it should be a great matchup for the title.

Source (Background Photos): Getty Images

The Kansas Jayhawks have yet to really be tested throughout their five tournament games, with their toughest challenge coming in the Sweet Sixteen when they squeaked past Purdue 66-61.

They took down #2 seed Villanova in convincing fashion in the Final Four.

The Jayhawks have been the beneficiary of a few favourable matchups through the tournament though. They got the #10 seed Miami Hurricanes in the Elite Eight and as a #1 seed, they’ll be the betting favourites heading into the matchup with UNC.

It isn’t the deepest team in the world, they only play about seven guys, but KU has multiple scoring threats and playmakers as well as a stout defence. Forward David McCormack is crucial to their attack, he had 25 in the game on Saturday against Villanova including a monster dunk.

The return of Guard Remy Martin from injury has been huge for this team. Martin missed a large portion of the regular season with a knee injury and has been an energy boost on the bench since the tournament began. Martin is one of the team’s most explosive scorers, and he sets the tone at the point of attack on defence as well.

Ochai Agbaji has been shooting the lights out and is the most important guard on KU’s roster, he’s 8 for 9 from a long distance over his last two games Christian Braun is one of the most underrated players in the country on the wing and provides secondary scoring and playmaking. At 6’6, he’s got great size and athleticism and he’s a good three-point shooter as well.

Overall, this isn’t the most star-studded Kansas team we’ve ever seen, in fact, it’s not the most star-studded final, but they get it done sort of by committee, not unlike their opponent.

While Kansas has had a relatively easy path, UNC has been a giant killer. As a #8 seed, they’ve already knocked off #1 seed Baylor, #2 seed Duke, UCLA who went to the Final Four last year, and they even took down the mighty Peacocks of St. Peters.

Their Final Four victory over arch-rival Duke to end Coach K’s career was possibly the greatest win in program history, so it will be interesting to see how that emotional high will affect them heading into tonight.

Caleb Love is the straw that stirs the UNC drink. The sharpshooting guard lit Duke up for 28 points, including 22 in the second half. He can be frustrating with his decision making at times, but he’s the most dangerous offensive weapon out of both these teams.

His game contrasts nicely with forward Brady Manek, who provides a steady pick and pop/ pick and roll game guy and doesn’t make mistakes as a senior. Manek has hit a ton of big shots so far this tournament, and he’ll have a distinct size advantage over the KU frontcourt.

Armando Bacot in the middle is an absolute nightmare on the glass. He had a whopping 22 rebounds against St. Peters and promptly followed that up with 21 more against Duke. The Tar Heels as a team had 17 offensive rebounds against Duke, leading to 22-second chance points which was a huge reason they were able to pull off the upset.

Rebounding will actually be an interesting piece to this matchup. McCormack single-handedly makes Kansas one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country. He’s fourth in the nation in offensive rebounding rate, snatching 17.3 per cent of his team’s misses.

The title winner could be determined by which team can keep the other off the glass.

On paper, the Kansas Jayhawks should win this game, but UNC has been an underdog almost all tournament and coming off their win against Duke, I feel like they’re riding a high that will propel them over the top.

Plus, Caleb Love is a terror to guard.

As a childhood Duke fan, this may be the most difficult thing I’ll ever write;

PREDICTION: UNC 70 KU 67