We already have the end of March Madness: North Carolina and Kansas will meet in the early hours of Monday to Tuesday at 03:00 Spanish time to replace Baylor at the top of college basketball. It will be in the majestic Caesars Superdome, the home of the New Orleans Saints of the NFL and one of the great icons of Louisiana after taking in the refugees from the devastating Hurricane Katrina of 2005, which caused 1,833 deaths. Between them, they add 10 NCAA championships after the establishment of the Final Four in 1939: North Carolina has seven, three in this 21st century and the last one in 2017, while Kansas has three (1952, 1988 and 2008).
Duke 77-North Carolina 81
North Carolina reaches the final after beating Duke (77-81) in the great rivalry of American basketball. And ending Mike Krzyzewski’s career early. Coach K leaves the bench Blue Devils after 42 seasons, 1,097 wins in 1,400 games, five NCAA championships in 13 Final Four appearances. A myth that surpassed university basketball to return the glory to the United States team with three consecutive Olympic gold medals (2008, 2012 and 2016) after the great slip in Athens 2004. Tar Heels they already ruined their last game at home, in Durham.
Two blows in the final centimeters of his career that are pure joy for fans of the Tar Heelswho are one step away (if they haven’t already) to raise a new historical hero: Caleb Love. The 20-year-old point guard, a great promise for the next NBA draft, closed the semifinal against Duke with 28 points. Nobody in North Carolina had reached those figures in a Final Four since James Worthy in 1982. Big words for a player who has skyrocketed his value in the rookie market in this last stretch of the season: his biggest goals of the course have come in this tournament with all 30 against UCLA, all 28 against Duke and all 23 against Marquette.
And everything, against the eternal rival, with a triple with 28 seconds to go (74-78) and three hits from the personal that sentenced a duel that was tight until the end. And facing one of the great candidates for number 1 in the next draft: Paolo Banchero. The power forward played another spectacular game with 20 points.
Kansas 81-Villanova 65
For its part, Kansas had it easier to get rid of Villanova (81-65) with brilliant David McCormack and Ochai Agbaji. Between the two of them, they unleashed 46 points on a rival (25 and 21, respectively) who succumbed from the start of the game and were already down by 11 points at half-time (40-29).
