SAN ANTONIO — Roy Williams taught Kansas all about how to handle cruel, crushing disappointments.

Bill Self schooled the Jayhawks on how to dish out some pain of their own.

Kansas left its former coach in the dust last night, getting 25 points and seven rebounds from Brandon Rush to stave off a ferocious comeback by North Carolina for an 84-66 victory.

Trailing 40-12 late in the first half, Tyler Hansbrough, Wayne Ellington and the Tar Heels made a valiant rally, closing to five points with nine minutes left.

But they fell short in pulling off the biggest Final Four comeback ever.

"We sort of came out a little more casual than we would've liked and they hit us right between the eyes," Williams said.

The Jayhawks moved within a win of its first national championship since 1988, the year before Williams began his storied 15-year tenure in Lawrence — one that ended when he jilted Kansas for his alma mater.

"I hope it's set aside and goes away forever," Williams said of the animosity that has lingered since he left in 2003. "Let's don't focus on that. Focus on the great job done by Kansas."

Hansbrough had 17 points and nine rebounds for North Carolina (36-3), but his next move will be to decide whether to come back for his senior season.

Kansas has more pressing things to deal with — stopping fast-breaking Memphis and freshman sensation Derrick Rose.

"We know we've got another step to take Monday night," guard Sherron Collins said. "It's going to be a great matchup. They play fast, we play fast."

Collins had two assists, a 3-pointer and two free throws during the decisive stretch that saw the Jayhawks pad that five-point (58-53) lead to 15 and send the Tar Heels into desperation mode.

"We've had a good year, but I don't think anybody's goal here was to be one of the top four teams in the country," Hansbrough said. "It's to be the top team. I'm frustrated with that."

Williams got outcoached in this one, especially at the beginning, finding no solution for Kansas' strategy of dumping the ball inside to Darrell Arthur, Darnell Jackson and Cole Aldrich.

Kansas also smothered Hansbrough, even flooring him once on a foul by Mario Chalmers.

"To start the game, I felt, instead of having 10 hands out there it felt like we had 14 or 16," said Self, in his first Final Four since replacing Williams five years ago. "Guys were making a move, a reverse pivot, and there were two hands there waiting for them."

Despite North Carolina's impressive comeback, the final stats painted a picture of Kansas domination. The Jayhawks shot 53 percent from the floor and held the nation's second-leading offense to 35 percent. They had nine more rebounds, 10 more assists, six more blocks.

This marked the first chance to see Self and Williams go against each other with their new teams — and on the game's biggest stage.

Self coached Kansas to the lead. Williams coaxed his team back in it.

But for all North Carolina's effort, this game was lost early.

"I've never been so embarrassed in my life," Tar Heel guard Marcus Ginyard said of the first 10 minutes.

The basket looked as big as the Alamo for the Jayhawks, who made 12 of their first 16 shots and went on an 18-0 run for a 33-10 lead with 9:31 left.

Meanwhile, the Tar Heels went a stunning 9:03 without a basket. No team has overcome a deficit bigger than 22 at the Final Four, and it was around the time the lead was 40-12 that none other than Billy Packer, the CBS analyst, said the game was over.

It wasn't, but it may as well been.