Season of Destiny - Jayhawks rise up to Roy's challenge

It must be the lights, the cameras, the intensity. Maybe it's the big arena, the atmosphere, or the name on the front of the jersey.

This collection of Jayhawks has a history of doing this — playing its best in the biggest moments. Criticize them for slogging through the occasional conference game, or struggling with tiny Davidson. But don't say the Jayhawks don't understand The Moment.

"We've been wanting to play North Carolina since November," Darrell Arthur said.

Kansas beat Roy Williams and No. 1 overall seed North Carolina 84-66 on Saturday night in front of 40,000-plus at the Alamodome. KU led the entire way.

It was reminiscent of the Jayhawks' upset of Florida last year, their brilliant performances against the other-worldly Kevin Durant last year and a 2008 Big 12 championship game that rivaled any in Big 12 history.

"On the biggest stage, we were in attack mode for 40 minutes," Kansas coach Bill Self said.

And again, playing the underdog, Kansas delivered. The Jayhawks ended the Roy era for good. And if it wasn't before, Kansas is fully, completely, irrevocably, Self's program now. He's playing Memphis on Monday night for the national championship.

To get there, KU played a game of what was beautiful irony for Kansas fans. It was the Jayhawks who pushed the tempo, the Jayhawks who made the big run, the Jayhawks who looked like the more fluid, more deep, more ready, more talented team against Williams' Runnin' Tar Heels.

And it looked that way from top to bottom. For evidence, here's this: Kansas freshman center Cole Aldrich, who entered the game averaging 2.7 points and 2.9 rebounds, went for six points, six boards, three blocks and a steal in 13 first-half minutes against player of the year Tyler Hansbrough. It was a line that didn't speak so much to Aldrich's ability — he was, after all, a McDonald's All-American — but to the fact that a guy who could produce like that on college basketball's grandest stage was averaging 8.1 minutes a game.

"He may have won the game for us as much as anybody," Self said, "because he played so great."

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