WATCH: Remy Martin loses it in Kansas national title win celebration
Kansas guard Remy Martin looked like a little kid again after winning the 2022 NCAA Tournament. The cameras caught him dancing around goofily with his championship hat on as the team took hold of the trophy.
Martin contributed 14 points in 21 minutes off of the bench for the Jayhawks on Monday night. He hit four out of six three-point attempts to lead the team from behind the arc.
As a fifth-year senior, Martin has likely played his final collegiate game. He played his first four seasons with the Arizona State Sun Devils before shunning the NBA Draft and coming to Kansas for one miraculous season. Despite taking a step back in minutes, Martin was a crucial piece for the Jayhawks on their way to a No. 1-seed and tournament title.
Down by 15 at halftime against the North Carolina Tar Heels, Kansas was able to complete the biggest NCAA Tournament championship comeback of all time. It was an energetic and quick-paced second half for the Jayhawks, winning their fourth title in program history, 72-69.
It was the Tar Heels that controlled play in the first half, carrying a 40-25 lead into halftime. But after the two teams emerged for the second half, it was all Jayhawks. Kansas woke up offensively in the second half, putting up 47 points and holding North Carolina to 29.
Kansas players describe second-half turnaround
The key to the second-half turnaround against North Carolina was the team’s message inside the locker room at halftime.
For Kansas star Ochai Agbaji, named the NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, head coach Bill Self challenged his players in the locker room, and it fired the team up for the final 20 minutes.
“I would say it kind of just took us back to when we were at K-State,” Agbaji said. “The message was obviously different. Coach, he obviously challenged us and he was amped up in there. But it was a matter of us playing our game and executing in the second half. Taking away what they were getting at in the first half.”
Agbaji scored 12 points in Monday’s title game. Mitch Lightfoot, who had two points in just seven minutes in the title game, pointed to the experience on the Kansas roster as a reason for the turnaround.
“I would say — I said this a couple of days ago in media, with the group of guys as experienced as this and been around and know each other so well, it’s kind of hard to see us get rattled,” Lightfoot said. “And I think we bounced back at halftime. Coach had a great message for us, and he challenged us to be better and to have more pride. And we did that.”