UNC Basketball: 3 keys to beat Kansas in 2022 National Championship game

3. Channel the momentum from beating Duke

I’m not a believer in the philosophy that a team needs to forget its momentum in order to focus on the game at hand. I’m also not a believer in totally relying on that momentum.

Somewhere in between lies a happy medium where a team can recognize and utilize that momentum — a way to channel that energy into focusing on and game-planning for an upcoming game. That’s what UNC needs to find before Monday night.

We’ve seen younger players like Caleb Love step up to the pressure of March and April so far, but Kansas has an edge on UNC in terms of experience and perspective. The Jayhawks will be calm, cool, and collected on Monday night. The Tar Heels have to be prepared for that and ready to match.

That said, a certain level of adrenaline could be important for Bacot in dealing with an ankle injury suffered in the second half of their win over Duke. He stepped on Leaky Black’s foot, rolling his ankle. Davis has insisted in press conferences that Bacot will play on Monday, which I don’t doubt. The question is will his mobility be limited — in rebounding, running the floor, and guarding the pick-and-roll.

North Carolina has the talent and momentum to cap off a magical season for a seventh National Championship. Its ability to stay out of foul trouble, crash the offensive glass, and channel that energy from beating Duke will go a long way to deciding Monday night’s matchup with Kansas.