SAN ANTONIO – So patient for 20 years, Kansas had no problem working an extra five minutes to bring a long-awaited championship back to the heartland.

Mario Chalmers hit a 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left in regulation to push the game into overtime, and the Jayhawks grinded it out from there for a 75-68 victory Monday night over Memphis in one of the best title games in recent memory.

The shot earned Chalmers the most outstanding player honor.

“We got the ball in our most clutch player’s hands, and he delivered,” Kansas coach Bill Self said.

It was the first title for Kansas since 1988, when Danny Manning, now an assistant coach for the Jayhawks, led them to an upset of Oklahoma.

The most memorable performance in this one came from freshman Derrick Rose of Memphis, who completely took over the game in the second half, scoring 14 of his team’s 16 points during one stretch to lift the Tigers to a 60-51 lead.

But Kansas (37-3) used the strategy any smart opponent of Memphis’ would – fouling the heck out of one of the country’s worst free-throw-shooting teams – and when Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts combined to miss four of five over the last 1:12, it left the door open for KU.

Hustling the ball down the court with 10.8 seconds left and no timeouts, Sherron Collins handed off to Chalmers at the top of the 3-point line and Chalmers took the shot from the top. It hit nothing but net and tied the score at 63.