NEW ORLEANS — Armando Bacot thought he had the angle, and with it, a shot at giving North Carolina the lead for good. 

The Tar Heels trailed by one with under a minute left, and they had the ball in the capable hands of their star forward. 

But as Bacot made his move, the shot clock ticking down, he lost his balance. He turned his right ankle — the ankle he injured late in Saturday’s thrilling win over bitter-rival Duke and limited his movement — and hit the deck. Kansas had the ball and the lead. It never gave it back, prevailing in a memorable national championship game, 72-69, Monday night at the Caesars Superdome. 

“I thought I made a good move,” Bacot, a 6-foot-10 junior, said. “I thought it would have been an easy basket.” 

Hopping on one leg, Bacot made it back downcourt, refusing to let his injury lead to an easy basket for Kansas. Time was eventually called, but Bacot was done. Without him on the floor, David McCormack scored in the post to push the Kansas lead to three with 22.5 seconds left and North Carolina was unable to draw even on its final two possessions, as Caleb Love misfired twice from 3-point range. 

Despite his gimpy right ankle, Bacot became the first player in NCAA Tournament history to record six double-doubles. After consecutive 20-rebound performances, he had 15 points and 15 rebounds Monday, doing everything in his power to lead the Tar Heels to the title. 

“It’s not just his effort tonight. The effort tonight that he displayed, he’s done it all year consistently,” Tar Heels first-year coach Hubert Davis said. “And that’s why he’s one of the better players in the country.” 

Monday night ended a remarkable turnaround for North Carolina, which went from on the bubble to the final game of the season. The Tar Heels won 17 of 20 games to reach the national championship, and defeated nemesis Duke twice in that stretch. Last month the Tar Heels ruined the final home game of Mike Krzyzewski’s Hall of Fame career, and beat him again in the Final Four — the first NCAA Tournament game between the rivals. The Tar Heels just didn’t have quite enough to cut down the nets. 

“I would say that this season has been successful, just having Coach Davis as a coach. He’s been amazing all year,” Bacot said. “This won’t be the last time y’all will see this program here.”