Ken Davis

SAN ANTONIO - Twenty years after the original production, Kansas now has another miracle to cherish.

The one from 1988 is commonly known as Danny and the Miracles, a tribute to Danny Manning’s performance that carried the Jayhawks to their second NCAA championship. The instant response from Kansas coach Bill Self Monday night was that it might be too simplistic to call this one Mario and the Miracles.

Until someone gets more creative it will have to do.

The Jayhawks were still too stunned after their 75-68 overtime victory against Memphis to come up with any catchy titles for the latest, and perhaps greatest, chapter in Kansas history. When a basketball program has a tradition as rich as the one in Lawrence, Kan., it’s difficult to top too many past performances. But guard Mario Chalmers found a way in the Alamodome.

The history-making three-point shot Chalmers made with 2.1 seconds left in regulation seemed to hang in the air with a special sense of drama. When it dropped through the net, Kansas had tied the game at 63, rallied from a nine-point deficit with two minutes left in the game and forced an overtime they would go on to dominate.

“It will probably be the biggest shot ever made in Kansas history,” Self said. “You know, Mario has no memory. The next thing that happens is the only thing that he’s ever thinking about. It’s just remarkable that a guy can have that much poise when the pressure’s on like that.”

Kansas is back in the winner’s circle again.

No more taunts of Rock “Choke” Jayhawk from the critics. No more waiting for the school’s passionate throng of fans who had craved another moment like this for so long. After cutting down the nets and celebrating with his team, Self said he was still in shock and a bit overwhelmed.

“I told our guys last night and I told them again today, that Kansas basketball, you know, is Dr. Naismith, Rupp and Allen, Owens and Brown and Williams and Wilt,” Self said. “You can go on and on and on. There are so many great teams. This is the winningest team [37-3] ever in the history of the program.

“And I told them [before the game], they’ll be remembered as the best team ever in the history of the program if we take care of business. That to me is very humbling. This one will go down as the best ever.”

Memphis, which lost for only the second time in 40 games this season, took control of this game when freshman point guard Derrick Rose came alive midway through the second half and scored 15 of his 18 points. And when Robert Dozier hit two free throws with 2:12 remaining, the Tigers were ahead 60-51.

“I thought the game was over,” said Kansas forward Darrell Arthur, who was nothing short of sensational with 20 points and 10 rebounds, playing on the biggest stage in his career.

“I never thought we were dead,” Self said. “I never did. But I knew it didn’t look very good.”

Even so, Self said he still liked the body language of his players. If this had been a regular season game, they might have slumped on the bench and lost all hope. Since this was the last game of the season (and for some the last game of their careers) there was no quit. Not this night.

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“We kept saying, ‘Believe, there’s a lot of time on the clock,’ ” forward Darnell Jackson said. “Coach did a great job of making us focused. Every time we got the ball out, we made some great plays. Mario made an unbelievable shot.”

All season long, the Jayhawks had been praised for their balance, but at the same time doubted because they didn’t have a go-to guy in the crunch. Chalmers has fit that role occasionally, but Monday night he stepped up with more on the line than at any other time in his career.

Chalmers still didn’t want to accept the title.

“I don’t think I’m the go-to guy,” Chalmers said. “I think we’ve got five or six go-to guys. [Arthur] hit a big shot down low. Brandon [Rush] it a couple layups and Sherron [Collins] hit a big three. We’ve got a lot of go-to guys. And it works.”

In a star-studded Final Four, Kansas became the first team to beat two No. 1 seeds on the final weekend. But that wasn’t the thing that mattered most. This was the eighth championship appearance in school history. The question had been raised how Kansas could call itself The Basketball School, and brag of the tradition from James Naismith to Manning, with only two national titles — one in 1952 and the other in 1988.

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Since replacing Roy Williams in 2003, Self has grown tired of addressing the times Kansas has come up short. Under Williams, the Jayhawks lost to Duke in the 1991 national championship game, lost to North Carolina in the 1993 Final Four, lost to Maryland in the 2002 Final Four, and then lost to Syracuse in the 2003 championship game.

After that, Williams scurried off to North Carolina, his alma mater, and won the 2005 championship with the Tar Heels. It was more than any decent Jayhawk fan could endure. And that’s without even mentioning the extraordinarily painful Sweet 16 loss to Arizona in 1997. That team, with a beloved starting lineup of Paul Pierce, Raef LaFrentz, Jerod Haase, Scot Pollard and Jacque Vaughn finished 34-2.

Those former Jayhawks must have felt relieved Monday night when an enormous burden was lifted from their shoulders. The same goes for Nick Collison, Kirk Hinrich, Wayne Simien, Julian Wright, Aaron Miles, and all the other Jayhawks who had gone before this — and fell short of the ultimate prize.

Self’s teams had advanced to the Elite Eight in 2004 and 2007, losing to Georgia Tech and UCLA. But until this glorious weekend on San Antonio’s Riverwalk, the thing Self seemed most remembered for was first-round losses to Bucknell in 2005 and Bradley in 2006.

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