Kansas Defeats UNC for Championship Title

ARTICLE BY JADA CARTER, JOURNALISM STUDENT: 

The winner of this year’s men’s March Madness was the Midwest’s very own Kansas, the top-ranked team of that area. Having an overall record of 34-6 in their regular season, they didn’t come to mess around; they were gunning for that championship win. They beat North Carolina with a final score of 72-69. It surprised fans, as everyone had Gonzaga on their brackets to win, after their upset in the final two the previous year.
   Starting with the North Carolina Tar Heels, there are some interesting stats to come out of that game that almost led them to a championship title. One of their forwards, Armando Bacot, led the team in rebounds with a total of 15. Not only was he the top rebounder for the night, he was also one of the leader scorers with 15 points. RJ Davis was right up there with Bacot, with 15 points as well as 12 rebounds. As for the Kansas Jayhawks, the lead scorers that led them to a victory were Jalen Wilson and David McCormack, with 15 points each. Christian Braun was the top rebounder with 12, and had an excellent defensive game with 11 rebounds on defense. These three key players contributed to the number one seed to win the championship in this year’s March Madness.
   This year’s championship title could have belonged to any team. St. Peter’s out of the East made that believable. Since they were ranked 15 out of 16 teams in their area, they weren’t expected to make it far. However, with an outstanding 67-64 win over the third-ranked Purdue, they made it to the Elite 8. They made history that day for being the first 15 seed to make it to the final 8 teams.
   March Madness is the NCAA Division l Men’s Basketball Tournament. It’s a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States. It first appeared in the state of Illinois over 60 years ago for the excitement around the state basketball tournaments. The term was coined by Henry V. Porter, who coached and taught at Athens High School in Central Illinois. This year, the tournament featured 68 college teams across the country. They came from either the East, West, South or Midwest. Every team came to play and showed everyone that ranks do not matter; it could have been anyone’s tournament win.

​