Two teams of destiny met Monday night in the NCAA men's basketball final, but only one could emerge victorious.
North Carolina defeated Illinois 75-70 to garner head coach Roy Williams his first national championship in 17 years of coaching. The Illini erased a 15-point Tar Heel lead in the second half, before a costly turnover and UNC free throws sealed the deal for Roy Williams and company. Sean May paced North Carolina with 26 points, 10 rebounds and shot 10-of-11 from the field.
The UNC junior forward??-on his birthday no less-was the most dominant player on the floor Monday night as May accomplished the same feat his father did 29 years prior. Scott May-a forward for the 1976 national champion Indiana-led the Hoosiers to the title and the last undefeated season in college basketball. While the younger May did not secure an undefeated season for the Tar Heels, he is now his father's equal in the championship department. On its way to the championship, UNC defeated the Big Ten's top three teams in increasing order of difficulty.
Illinois made it interesting with five-and-a-half minutes to go, using a 10-point run to tie the game at 65. Illini senior guard Luther Head paced Illinois with 21 points, but it was his costly turnover and missed 3-pointer with 17 seconds remaining that ended the Illini's impressive season as North Carolina held Illinois without a basket for the final two-and-a-half minutes of the game.
Illini junior forward James Augustine-who picked up his fourth foul just a minute and ten seconds into the second half-scored zero points and fouled out with just under seven minutes to play.
UNC junior guard Raymond Felton-the second star for the Tar Heels-scored 16 points on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range and added seven assists. Junior guard Rashard McCants added 14 points for the Tar Heels. Illini junior guards Deron Williams and Dee Brown scored 17 and 12 points respectively, but shot a combined 5-of-17 from 3-point range.
-Clint Robus
