‘Roy Williams Bowl’ to announce in New Orleans :: WRALSportsFan.com
New Orleans —
Pre-game:
The North Carolina players and head coach Hubert Davis arrived around 8 p.m. ET Monday at Caesars Superdome.
Fans dubbed Monday night’s national championship game between North Carolina and Kansas the “Roy Williams Bowl” in reference to the former coach’s ties to both schools.
In April 2021, Williams announced his retirement and has since seen both universities win their Final Four matches. Williams, 71, served as head coach at UNC from 2003 to 2021 and Kansas from 1988 to 2003.
North Carolina (29-9) enters the national championship after an 81-77 victory over No. 2 seed Duke on Saturday. Sophomore guard Caleb Love scored a game-high 28 points, including six in the final minute, to put away Duke.
Love’s 28 points on Saturday night are the most by a North Carolina player in a Final Four game since James Worthy scored 28 in the 1982 national championship. Love’s three most scoring games this season have all took place in the NCAA Tournament.
On Saturday, Kansas (33-6) clinched its Final Four game with an 81-65 win over No. 2 seed Villanova. Senior forward David McCormack scored 25 points and senior guard Ochai Agbaji had 21 points in the win.
UNC and Kansas are playing in the Final Four for the fifth time, two more than any other game in Final Four history: Duke-Kansas, UCLA-Louisville and UNC-Michigan State have all played in the Final Four three times. Final Four.
North Carolina defeated KU in the 1957 championship game and the 1993 semi-finals; the Jayhawks beat UNC in the semifinals in 1991 and 2008.
North Carolina is in the national championship game for the 12th time, second only to UCLA’s 13 titles. UNC has played in the title game in 1946, 1957, 1968, 1977, 1981, 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009, 2016, 2017 and now 2022.
The Tar Heels have won NCAA titles in 1957, 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009 and 2017.
North Carolina is 6-5 against Kansas. However, the Jayhawks have won the last three meetings, all of them in the NCAA tournament (2008, 2012 and 2013).
Kansas is making its 10th appearance in an NCAA championship game.
The game is scheduled to start at 9:20 p.m. ET at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. It will air on TBS with Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill and Tracy Wolfson on the call.
