Historic final weekend in hoops
Kansas coach Bill Self can hardly believe a Final Four roster that features four No. 1 seeds for the first time.
UCLA and Kansas are 35-3.
"And we haven't performed as consistently as the other two because their records are better," Self said Monday during an NCAA teleconference that featured all four Final Four coaches.
No. 1 overall seed North Carolina, which will play Kansas in the semifinals Saturday, is 36-2. Memphis is 37-1 and will meet UCLA in the other semifinal.
The teams boast plenty of tradition, as UCLA (11 titles), North Carolina (four) and Kansas (two) boast multiple NCAA championships. Memphis has the least-accomplished history of the four, but still has been to two Final Fours.
The top four teams in The Associated Press preseason poll were, in order: North Carolina, UCLA, Memphis and Kansas.
"I think the four of us had separated from the field," said Memphis coach John Calipari. "Next year it may be different."
Coaches applaud Davidson's run
The Final Four coaches raved about Davidson and coach Bob McKillop a day after the Wildcats pushed Kansas to the brink of elimination in a 59-57 Midwest Regional final loss:• "What Bobby McKillop did to get his team to that point, come on," said an impressed Calipari.
• "Davidson has to feel great about what they did," said North Carolina's Roy Williams.
• "I just thought (Jason) Richards' shot was going to go in (to win at the buzzer). I thought that was their karma," said UCLA's Ben Howland.
• "Offensively we were pretty stale," Self said.
"But that was because they did a really good job of taking us out of what we want to do and got us to standing as opposed to attacking."
Coach: Lawson's ankle is fine
Williams said North Carolina point guard Ty Lawson "tweaked" his left ankle on the last play of the regional final win against Louisville, but seemed OK when he came in to get treatment Sunday.
"But it scared him a little bit and scared us (coaches) a little bit," Williams said.
Ty Lawson missed six games in February with a sprain of that left ankle
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