Final Four Men's finale is in the books!

KANSAS V INDIANA: This one was fun. After 66 games, numerous upsets, crazy finishes and a bushel full of amazing performances, KU and IU got to play for the 2020 NCAA men's banner. The Atlanta crowd -- a record 68,811 -- was raring to see these programs with 8 combined championships go at it. 

Surprisingly, both teams came out relaxed and the coaches turned them loose. Through the first 12 min, the scoring was high but the largest lead was 3. Hunter and Green for IU hit 5 of 9 bombs and TJD had 6 pts on put backs. KU answered with DD (as usual!) controlling the tempo. At the under 8 media timeout, DD had 7 pts, 4 assists and zero turnovers...while UA had 11 pts including 4 dunks. Indiana rotated big men on UA but none could slow him. With 4 min to go, a ticky tack 3rd foul on Garrett, KU's "glue" man, energized IU to go on an 8-0 run. KU stopped the bleeding and regained the lead with 3s from Braun and Agbaji. The Jayhawks led 41-39 at the half.

The stars for each team kept killing it after intermission. And both teams had key contributions from unexpected sources. For KU, Moss got significant minutes due to Garrett's fouls and he rocked. A 35% 3-pt shooter, in the 2nd half Moss hit 4 of 7 and scored 14 pts in 13 min. For the Hoosiers, Franklin who had seen his minutes shrink late in the yr, was given a chance due to his tight on-the-ball defense. He slowed DD and also scored 7 points on 4 shots. At the under 4 timeout, KU led by 5. With UA out (due to free throw %), Indiana pounded the post. Davis and TJD called for the ball. They combined for 5 buckets in 3 1/2 minutes to bring IU within 1 at the 43 sec mark.

DD held the ball, then drove the lane as the shot clock wound down. His layup rolled off but he was fouled...and hit both. Down by 3, Indiana filled the floor with shooters. Green worked free and fired with 8 sec to go. He missed. TJD tipped the rebound to Phinisee behind the arc. He nailed a 3 to tie it. OT! 

Kansas took it to IU early in OT. The big guy, UA, was back on the floor and rested. He personally outscored IU 10-4 in the first 3 min of OT though the Hoosiers wouldn't go away. Durham's 3 followed by his steal and layup cut the lead to 1 with 33 sec to go. IU then fouled DD who hit them both. Again, up 3, Coach Self chose not to foul. IU executed their offense perfectly and got Durham an open 3 with 8 sec to go. It missed. KU's Garrett grabbed the rebound and was fouled. He missed the first...and after 2 timeouts drilled the 2nd for a 4 pt lead...making Green's last sec 3 meaningless. FINAL IN OT: KANSAS 84 and INDIANA 83. Kansas earned their 4th NCAA men's championship!! The Hoosier 3-week magical run came up just short...