Final Four Notebook | Hurts so good: Brandon Rush injury fueled Kansas

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Thousands of people poured out of bars and restaurants and turned Massachusetts Street into a surging river of joyous humanity the instant Kansas captured the NCAA men's basketball championship Monday night.

Jayhawks fans, who packed Allen Fieldhouse and sports bars all over town, had become subdued when Kansas trailed Memphis by nine points with 2:12 left in the championship game. But that only intensified their rapture when Mario Chalmers hit the tying three-pointer that capped an amazing comeback and put the game into overtime.

Up and down this college town's bustling business district, shouts and screams were heard when Chalmers' fadeaway jumper found its mark with 2 seconds left.

After the game, the crowd broke into chants of "Mario, Mario."

Meanwhile, more than 250 police officers stood by as the game wound down.

"Kansas fans usually are pretty good at times like these," said a Johnson County sheriff's officer who declined to give his name. "I doubt we'll have very much mischief, but you never know. A lot of people have been drinking a lot of beer."

What made the Jayhawks' first national championship in 20 years even sweeter was the coach they beat in Saturday's semifinal — former Kansas coach Roy Williams, now at North Carolina.

"We beat Roy Williams to get to the championship game and then we won in a great game in overtime," said Chris Neverve, whose father owns the Red Lyon Tavern. "It doesn't get any sweeter. It can't get any sweeter than this."

He called Chalmers' game-tying three-pointer "the biggest shot in Kansas history."

A crowd estimated at about 10,000 watched the game at Allen Fieldhouse, which has a capacity of about 16,000.

Fouled-up ending

Memphis coach John Calipari said he wanted his team to foul on the final possession of regulation and that his team had fouled Kansas' Sherron Collins away from the ball early in the possession, but nothing was called.

"They're hurting bad: How close were they to a national championship?" Calipari said. "You've got to give Kansas credit. They made plays, and everything that had to happen to us did — missed free throws, late turnovers. We were going to foul with 10 seconds to go, and we pushed [Collins] hard to the floor. All of that is why we lost."

Shirts off his back

At the Sports Dome in Lawrence, owner Brian Hoffman had 288 T-shirts that said "Kansas 2008 NCAA Champions" sitting in boxes before the game. He acknowledged taking a risk by having the shirts printed ahead of time.

"If we win, it's like Christmas for me," he said before the game. "If we win, this will carry me through the rest of the year, and in an economy that's kind of soft, that will be nice."