New Orleans – David McCormack was arguably the biggest X-factor in Kansas’ 81-65 win over 2-seed Villanova in the Final Four semifinal round. The senior logged a game-high 25 points in just 29:00, sliding the Jayhawks into the KU program’s first national title since 2012.
Alongside 21 points from fellow senior Ochai Agbaji, McCormack’s 10-of-12 (83%) attempts from the field are now tied for ninth all-time in Final Four matchups. The KU big said establishing a reliable scoring stream in the paint was always the plan.
“Talking with Coach (Self), he wanted us to have an inside presence,” McCormack said. “And, usually, if you can play inside/out it opens up more shots, more driving lanes, a lot of cuts. I think starting early opened the rest of the floor and we played off of that and made it easy.”
McCormack’s large scoring chunk was complemented by an 83% (5-6) free throw shooting performance. He finished the regular season shooting just over 70% from the stripe.
When questioned about McCormack’s highs and lows throughout the regular season, Kansas head coach Bill Self expressed his longstanding confidence in the veteran big.
“He was our guy from the jump,” Self said.
“And I think so much of a performance maybe has to do with things that the media and the public don't know about, and primary health,” Self added. “And see how much this guy sacrificed just to be out there every day. He may do two to three hours of treatment every day just to be out there. There was never a question who our guy was.”
Ochai Agbaji goes ultra from three, reacts postgame reaction with Christian Braun
Giving Kansas a crucial boost from the tipoff, Agbaji drilled four 3s within the first 10:00 of the ballgame.
The senior ended the night with a game-high 6-of-7 (86%) made three-point attempts, setting a Final Four record for the best three-point percentage, beating out the previous record held by Butler’s Shelvin Mack (2011 vs. VCU – 83%).
Agbaji’s 21 points against Villanova is his largest scoring stat since the Big 12 tourney (TCU – 21) and looked like he grabbed some mojo back in the process. But the senior believes it had nothing to do with his headspace.
“I don't think anything is different or anything's changed,” Agbaji said. “My confidence has still been there. It's just that shots are falling now. I've just kept my confidence and my guys have kept me up and looked for me on the court, too. And just playing unselfish is just the biggest thing."
Now prepping for college basketball’s most important game, Agbaji was asked about the crowd chanting “one more” as the Jayhawks exited the floor Saturday night. The senior said it’s the outlook now with everything placed before them.
“That's everyone's attitude,” Agbaji said. “Even after this game, even after last weekend, the weekend before that. Everyone's attitude was on to the next one, not looking too far ahead at what's going on Monday, just being prepared for that moment and just being present in it.”
Junior Christian Braun joined his teammate, Agbaji, as they left the floor after the win. He shared his perspective of being just one game away from owning the national title.
“We always talk about it,” Braun said. “In the Elite Eight, we were saying we come to Kansas for big games, but you don't come to Kansas to play the Elite Eight. Then we win the Final Four game and we're saying we don't come to Kansas to win the Final Four, we came to win the national championship.”
Defense makes the man
Kansas’ defensive presence was clearly defined Saturday night. Holding Villanova to just 39% from the field and outrebounding the Wildcats 25-17 on the opposing glass, the Jayhawks were all business in New Orleans.
Citing the Jayhawks’ gradually improved defensive effort, McCormack believes this KU team puts its defense at the core of its operation.
“I want to say from the start, we always hang our hat on defense,” McCormack said.
“And I think that's what got our energy into us,” McCormack added. “Once the first fell and the second fell, I knew I could just kind of dominate the game inside. And it opened shot opportunities for my teammates to know that way I could get a couple of assists and get more baskets for myself.”
The Jayhawks will meet 8-seed North Carolina in the national title game slated for April 4th in New Orleans.
Hear everything the players said after the game on SLANT TV.
