Say it again: National champions.

Sounds nice. Sounds strange. Sounds like Danny Manning.

"To all the people who said it couldn't be done, who said we were finished, we're national champions, we're No. 1," Manning said. "So how do you like us now?"

If you like fairy tales, you'll love 'em.

As improbable as it might seem, the University of Kansas won college basketball's biggest prize Monday, stunning eight-point favorite Oklahoma 83-79 in the championship game of hte national tournament.

The Jayhawks won it with a great, great performance from manning, who perhaps saved his best for last, with a 31-point, 18-rebound, 5-steal effort that won him the tourney's Most Outstanding Player award.

They won it by playing the hoop version of Russian Roulette -- running with the Sooners -- in the first half and living to tell about a 50-50 first half that surely ranks among the best 20 minutes in Final Four history.

They won it by slamming on the bakes inthe second half, controlling the tempo and holding the frustrated Sooners to only 29 points.

They won it -- as they've won all six games during the incredible journey thorughte NCAA Tournament -- with superb inside defense. OU's two big men, Stacey King and Harbey Grant, were held to four points apiece in the second half by the Jayhawks' man-to-man.

They won itwith the help of football player Clint Normore and LIncoln Minor, tow players who hadn't scored a point in the previous five games but who contributed 7 and 4 respectively on Monday.

And they won it with Coach Larry Brown pullin gall the right strings, making all the right moves, orchestrating an efort that brought Kansas its first national championship since 1952.

There were, however, a lot of people wondering just what in the world Brown was doing in the first half when KU went head-to-head with the Sooners' feared running game.

Among those wondering was Brown.

"They wouldn't listen to me," he said of the dizzying first half that featured OU's Dave Sieger making six three-point baskets and KU shooting 71 percent (22 of 31) but committing 15 turnovers. "I was trying (to slow KU down)."

"I thought they played a great basketball game," Oklahoma Coach Billy Tubbs said about the Jayhawks. "The first half, I didn't think you could shoot it any better."

Indeed, KU did cool off the second half, but not much. The Jayhawks made 13 of 24, finishing the game with a sizzling 64 percent effort.

The most important of those 18 second half buckets was hte one Chirs Piper swished after OU seemly had assumed control, leading 65-60 with 12 minutes to play.

"We didn't panic when we got down five," Brown said, explaining KU's second half success. "And I think we got control of the tempo and played some phenomenal defense."

The defense shut off King and Grant inside and Sieger hit one more trey on his way to a team-high 22 points, but after is 6-of8 effort behind the line in the first half, he made only 1-of-5 the rest of the way.

Grnt managed only our shots in the second half, and King was 2-of-6. Grant ended his career with 14 points. King, a junior, had 17.

"That's probably the thoughest defense we've played against all year," said King.

And the Jayhawks -- everyone kept expecting the to wear out sooner or later -- kept on the pressure, and finally took the lead for good when Kevin Pritchard nailed a short baseline jumper to make it 73-71 with 5:34 left.

Manning followed with a jumper that bounced around before falling, and Piper hit a bucket with two seconds left on the shot clock to hike KU's lead to 77-71 with 3:02 left.

Then it got interesting. Then Manning took over.

Four missed free throws, two of them (Manning and Normore) on the front ends of one-and-ones, allowed OU a chance.