When Bill Self and his Kansas City Jayhawks found themselves trailing by 16 at one point in the first of their NCAA title game with the North Carolina Tar Heels, it looked but over for the team. They ended up behind by 15 points at halftime, 40-25, with their chances of coming back looking slim.
However, they turned things around in the second half with a fiery 13-5 run to cut the Tar Heels' lead to single digits. The incredible scoring streak only extended from there as they eventually took the lead with seven minutes remaining in the contest.
Naturally after pulling off the 72-69 win to complete the comeback, Self was asked what he told the Jayhawks at halftime that led to their scoring surge. They almost doubled their first-half production, so surely, the veteran coach must have said something to motivate his team–be it reprimanding them or saying something inspirational.
Self admitted that he didn't say much, but what he told the team was certainly enough to give them a perspective of their situation. Self made them realize they were not in as much trouble as the scored made it appear to be.
“I told them at halftime, would you rather be down 15 with 20 left or down 9 with 2 left?” Self shared in his interview during the presentation of the National Championship trophy.
For those people who know Bill Self's history, he was evoking the Jayhawks' 2008 championship when they had to erase a nine-point lead with a little over two minutes left against the Memphis Tigers.
"I told them at halftime, would you rather be down 15 with 20 left or down 9 with 2 left?"
Bill Self recalls @KUHoops' #NationalChampionship run to fire his team up at half 🔥 pic.twitter.com/t04FrbxKYK
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 5, 2022
Self couldn't have said it any better, really. While 15 points is a huge number to come back from, they had the whole second half to slowly get back from it. Sure enough, they took their time while locking up the Tar Heels as well to make sure their lead wouldn't grow any further.
With that, the Jayhawks completed the biggest comeback in National Championship history, as no team has ever won after getting down by as much as 16 points. Be it a collapse on North Carolina's end or a result of Self's genius and Kansas' aggressiveness, they certainly deserve a ton of credit for the victory.
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