2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship Game

2008 NCAA Tournament Championship Game
National Championship Game
Kansas Jayhawks Memphis Tigers
(36-3) (38-1)
75 68
Head coach: 
Bill Self		 Head coach: 
John Calipari
AP Coaches
4 4
AP Coaches
2 3
1 2 OT Total
Kansas 33 30 12 75
Memphis 28 35 5 68
Date April 7, 2008
Arena Alamodome
Location San Antonio, Texas
MVP Mario Chalmers, Kansas
Favorite Memphis by 2
Referee John Cahill, Ed Hightower, Ed Corbett
Attendance 43,257
United States TV coverage
Network CBS
Announcers Jim Nantz (play-by-play)
Billy Packer (color)
Sam Ryan (sideline)
Nielsen Ratings 12.1

The 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship Game was the finals of the 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament and it determined the national champion for the 2007-08 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The 2008 National Title game was played on April 7, 2008 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The 2008 National Title game was played between the 2008 South Regional Champions, #1-seeded Memphis the 2008 Midwest Regional Champions, #1-seeded Kansas.

For the 2nd consecutive year, the National Championship Game was played between two #1 seeds due to the face that all four #1 seeds were in the Final Four marking the 3rd time in the last four years that this happened.

Participants

Kansas

Kansas entered the 2008 NCAA Tournament as the #1 seed in the Midwest Regional. In the 1st round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament, Kansas dominated Portland State with a 85-61 victory.[1] In the 2nd round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament, Kansas beat UNLV 75-56 to advance to the Sweet 16.[2] In the Sweet 16 of the 2008 NCAA Tournament, Kansas beat Villanova 72-57 to advance to the Elite Eight.[3] In the Elite Eight of the 2008 NCAA Tournament, Kansas was able to overcome Stephen Curry's 25 points to beat Davidson 59-57 and advance to the 2008 Final Four.[4] In the 2008 Final Four, Brandon Rush scored 25 points to beat North Carolina 84-66 to advance to the 2008 National Title Game.[5]

Memphis

Memphis entered the 2008 NCAA Tournament as the #1 seed in the South Regional. In the 1st round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament, Memphis had a 15-2 run which eventually led to a 87-63 victory over Texas-Arlington.[6] In the 2nd round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament, Joey Dorsey had a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds to lead Memphis to a 77-74 victory over Mississippi State to advance to the Sweet 16 for the 3rd consecutive year.[7] In the Sweet 16 of the 2008 NCAA Tournament, Memphis finally proved that they are the top seed in their region by routing Michigan State with a 92-74 victory.[8] Memphis proved that they truly are the #1 seed in their regional with a 85-67 victory over Texas to advance to the 2008 Final Four sending coach John Calipari to the final four for the 1st time since 1996 with UMass.[9] In the 2008 Final Four, Derrick Rose scored 25 points to beat UCLA 78-63 and advance to the 2008 National Title Game.[10]

Memphis is the 1st team in NCAA history to have 38 wins in a season.

Game Summary

CBS
April 7
9:21 PM ET
Kansas 75, Memphis 68 (OT)
Scoring by half: 33-28, 30-35 OT: 12-5
Pts: D. Arthur 20
Rebs: D. Arthur 10
Asts: S. Collins 6		 Pts: C. Douglas-Roberts 22
Rebs: R. Dozier 10
Asts: D. Rose 8
Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas
Attendance: 43,257
Referees: John Cahill, Ed Hightower, Ed Corbett

1st Half

Darrell Arthur's 8 points and Mario Chalmers's five points in the 1st 11 and a half minutes gave Kansas a 22-15 lead with 8:30 remaining in the 1st half. Then, Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 7 points in 4 minutes to tie the game at 28-28. A Brandon Rush 3-point play and a Darrell Arthur two-point jumper would give Kansas a 33-28 lead at halftime.

2nd half

Antonio Andreson got off to a hot start in the 2nd half to give Memphis a 36-35 lead. Then, with 13:35 remaining, Darnell Jackson scored four points in the next 30 seconds to give Kansas a 43-40 lead. Then, Derrick Rose would score four points in the next two minutes to cut the Kansas lead to 45-44. With 8:30 remaining with a 47-46 deficit, Derrick Rose got the show going with 10 points in the next four minutes to take a 56-49 lead. After Robert Dozier made a pair of free throws to give Memphis a 60-51 lead with 2 minutes remaining, Kansas got a comeback going. It started with Darrell Arthur making a 2-point jumper and Sherron Collins making a 3-pointer to cut the Memphis lead to 60-56. A pair of Mario Chalmers free throws and a Darrell Arthur basket cut the Memphis lead to 62-60. With 10 seconds left, Derrick Rose made 1 of 2 free throws to give Memphis a 63-60 lead. With 9 seconds left, Mario Chalmers made a 3-pointer to tie the game at 63-63 and send the game to overtime for the 7th ever overtime game in National Championship Game history, the 1st overtime national championship game since the 1997 National Title Game when Arizona beat Kentucky 84-79 in overtime.

Overtime

In the 1st two and a half minutes of overtime, Brandon Rush, Darrell Arthur and Darnell Jackson each made a basket to give Kansas a 69-63 lead with 2:30 remaining in overtime. In the next one and a half minutes of overtime, Chris Douglas-Roberts scored five points to cut the Kansas lead to 71-68 with 1 minute remaining. Mario Chalmers and Sherron Collins each made a pair of free throws to give Kansas a 75-68 overtime victory over Memphis to win the national championship for the 1st time since 1988.[11]

Aftermath

Memphis would have its entire season vacated due to problems with Derrick Rose's SATs. On March 30th 2009, John Calipari became the head coach at Kentucky in 2012, John Calipari would lead Kentucky back to the National Title game where he would face Bill Self's Kansas Jayhawks and would take revenge on him for the 2008 National Title loss by beating him 67-59 for the 2012 National Championship.

References

  1. ↑ "Kansas dominates on inside, outside to rout Portland State". ESPN.com. 20 March 2008. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  2. ↑ "Kansas uses skilled depth, defense to shut down Runnin' Rebels". ESPN.com. 22 March 2008. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  3. ↑ "Jayhawks walk over Wildcats to romp way into Elite Eight". ESPN.com. 28 March 2008. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  4. ↑ "Goliath slays Davidson, Curry as Kansas holds on". ESPN.com. 28 March 2008. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  5. ↑ "North Carolina battles back, but Rush, Kansas close out Tar Heels". ESPN.com. 5 April 2008. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  6. ↑ "Tigers' 15-2 run is enough to shake pesky Mavericks". ESPN.com. 21 March 2008. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  7. ↑ "Dorsey, Memphis outlast Mississippi St. to advance to third straight Sweet 16". ESPN.com. 23 March 2008. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  8. ↑ "Tigers back up top-seed status with convincing rout of Spartans". ESPN.com. 28 March 2008. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  9. ↑ "Memphis proves No. 1 seed deserved with trip to Final Four". ESPN.com. 30 March 2008. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  10. ↑ "Rose, Memphis pull away from UCLA to move on to title game". ESPN.com. 5 April 2008. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  11. ↑ "After 20-year drought, Kansas rallies to beat Memphis for NCAA title". ESPN.com. 7 April 2008. Retrieved 3 May 2014.