Kansas Basketball: Ranking the last 29 NCAA Tournament teams
2. 2002-03 (30-8) (14-2 Big 12)
The 2002-03 season will go down as more than just a loss in the National Championship game, as it also marked the end of an era with the departure of head coach Roy Williams. Williams had become a regular in the NCAA Tournament by his final season at Kansas, leading the Jayhawks to 14-straight appearances in the Big Dance by the time it was over.
Williams still had a lineup of draft picks in his starting five with Nick Collison, Kirk Hinrich, Keith Langford, Aaron Miles and Wayne Simien in the rotation. Collison produced 18.5 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.9 blocks per contest.
Hinrich was putting up 17.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.9 steals per game on 40.6 percent shooting from behind the arc. Simien was averaging nearly a double-double with 14.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per contest as a sophomore.
The Jayhawks had quite the group entering March and “win or go home” territory. They finished 14-2 in Big 12 play, winning another regular-season title. In the conference tournament, they lost in the semifinals to the Missouri Tigers, 68-63.
Kansas still did enough to earn a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and with it, they made the most of it. They struggled in the opening round with the Utah State Aggies, but did enough to escape with a 64-61 victory. They got past the Arizona State Sun Devils easily in the second round, 108-76.
In the Sweet 16, it was another close one as they got past J.J. Redick and the Duke Blue Devils. They held Redick to 1-of-11 shooting from 3-point land in a 69-65 victory. In the Elite Eight, it was another close one against Luke Walton and the Arizona Wildcats. Kirk Hinrich scored a game-high 28 points in a 78-75 victory to punch their second consecutive ticket to the Final Four.
In the Final Four against the Marquette Golden Eagles, they were too much for Dwyane Wade and company, as they won easily 94-61 for an appearance in the national title game against the Syracuse Orange.
As a 3-seed, the Orange led by Carmelo Anthony made in all the way to the final weekend. They led in the early going 53-42, but a furious comeback made things interesting at the end.
Big man Hakim Warrick made a game-saving block on a Michael Lee 3-point attempt with 1.5 seconds left to save the day for Syracuse, giving them their first title in school history with an 81-78 victory.
It marked Williams’ third loss in the national title game as the coach of the Jayhawks. For his career, he coached Kansas to a record of 418-101 (.805).