The San Antonio Alamodome rocked with Jayhawk fans as the Memphis Tigers went cold in the last minutes of overtime play, missing several key free throws and losing the NCAA championship to the Kansas Jayhawks.
Memphis coach John Calipari thought he had his Tigers over this regular season malady, but just when it would prove the difference between a national championship and going home empty handed, the Memphis Tigers choked.
Memphis guard/forward Chris Douglas-Roberts missed all three of his free throws in the final 1:15 of regulation on Monday. And with less than ten seconds left in overtime, freshman Derrick Rose missed another.
Memphis all but had the game wrapped up with two minutes to go in regulation with a 60–51 lead. But the Jayhawks rallied back and tied the game with 2.1 seconds left after a miracle play by Sherron Collins and Mario Chalmers. With a few seconds to go, a falling Collins got the ball to Chalmers at the top of key who hit nothing but net and tied the game at 63.
The Jayhawks' strategy in overtime was to foul the nation's worst free throw-shooting team and crank out three-point shots.
Memphis was absolutely exhausted in the final minutes of the game. They could either cover under the net, or challenge the shooter beyond the three-point line. They chose the former, and the unchallenged three-point shots did them in.
"In overtime they beat us down," said Calipari. This was an unusual statement from a coach who prides himself on getting his team physically prepared, regardless of what fans or the team thinks about his grueling practices.
Memphis already ran many of their opponents into the ground when they came into this final game with a 38–1 record.
Memphis forward Joey Dorsey, who scored 20 points in the game and is a graduate of South Oak Cliff High School in Dallas, summed it up this way: "They just beat us. We couldn't score when we needed to and couldn't stop the deep outside shots."
The Jayhawks played with precision and strength both on offense and on defense. Their depth from the bench and ability to find the open man sealed the win.
Kansas became the Big 12's first men's basketball national champion in the conference's 12-year history.
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