Trailing by 16 points at half-time, Kansas rallied in the second half and captured their fourth NCAA basketball championship Monday night.

The Jayhawks beat North Carolina 72-69 in New Orleans. KU outscored UNC 47-29 in the second half to complete the biggest comeback in the championship game ever.

“We were disappointed with how we played at halftime,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “I told them, ‘Would you rather be down 15 points at halftime or nine with [two minutes] left?’ because that’s what happened in ’08. They all said 15.”

With the Kansas victory, the Big 12 Conference has won two NCAA basketball championships in a row as Baylor won last season.

KU’s David McCormack sank the go-ahead bucket from close range with 1:21 left, then another with 22 seconds left to put the Jayhawks ahead by three. North Carolina missed its final four shots, including a desperation three at the buzzer.

The Kansas defense held the Tar Heels scoreless over the final 1:41.

McCormack and Jalen Wilson led Kansas with 15 points each. Christian Braun scored 10 of his 12 in the second half and transfer Remy Martin had 11 of his 14 over the final 20 minutes.

Carolina had scored 16 straight points late in the first half to open a 40-25 lead at the break, but top-seeded KU (34-6) went on a 31-10 run over the opening 10 minutes of the second to take a six-point lead and set up a fantastic finish.

Carolina, who beat arch rival Duke Saturday night, was trying to join 1985 Villanova as only the second 8 seed to win March Madness.

Self relished the victory.

“I think we’re probably all a little overwhelmed and spent,” Self said. “And I don’t know that I’ve ever had a team flip the script like we have probably in the NCAA Tournament, whether it be Miami in the Elite Eight or whether it be this game.

“But it would be special to win regardless. But to win when your team had to fight and come back the way they did and show that much grit makes this one off the charts. I thought this would be good. And this is a heck of a lot better than I thought it would be.”