Flashback: Runaway champions

DETROIT — It all started when they decided to come back.

Four players declining the riches of the NBA, motivated to make one more run at history. One more run at a national title.

And everything that happened this season — the expectations, the No. 1 rankings, the blowout wins — pointed toward this one signature moment.

A scene that suddenly became reality in front of 72,922 spectators Monday night.

Senior Mike Copeland wildly flung the ball into the air. Players jumped up and down in jubilation amid a blizzard of confetti. Tyler Hansbrough hugged coach Roy Williams as explosions rang throughout Ford Field.

They did it.

In a truly dominant display, the North Carolina Tar Heels asserted themselves atop the college basketball world as national champions by defeating Big Ten regular-season champion Michigan State, 89-72.

The win gives UNC its fifth NCAA title, and second in five seasons.

“The first one was unbelievably sweet in 2005, and in some ways this is even sweeter,” Williams said after the game. “I’m so proud of this team. People anointed us before the year that we were going to go undefeated. … It’s an incredible feeling. … My hat’s off to … the guys in the locker room, because they took Roy Williams on one fantastic ride, and it’s something that I’ll never forget.”

Right out of the gate, the Tar Heels (34-4) let MSU know that the Spartans wouldn’t dictate the game’s tempo as it did in past wins against Louisville and UConn.

In just more than four minutes, UNC had 17 points. The Spartans were following North Carolina’s lead, racing up court and taking shots early in possessions.

Action moved at a blistering pace and mirrored the rhythm from the when the two teams met Dec. 3 — a 98-63 UNC win.

In that game, the Spartans (31-7) were able to trade baskets with the Tar Heels and hang around for the first 14 minutes.

But Wayne Ellington’s hot shooting and Ty Lawson’s defensive pressure made certain that the Spartans’ demise came earlier this time.

Ellington connected on his first three attempts from the field and finished the half 7-of-9 for 17 points. Ellington’s 19 points earned him the honor of Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player.

“The game came to me,” Ellington said. “(Travis Walton) was telling me that he was going to shut me down. He’s a great defender. … I just saw a pretty big basket in the first half.”

Lawson was equally disruptive on the defensive end. He collected seven steals in the first period and harassed MSU guard Kalin Lucas to the point that there was little hope for the Spartans offensively.

“My mindset basically was I wanted to slow down Kalin Lucas, because he’s the heart and soul of their team,” Lawson said. “I was trying to deny him the passing lanes and just make it hard for him to do the things he wanted to do.”

The duo was a Tar Heel one-two punch that KO’d Michigan State well before the halftime buzzer.

Within 10 minutes, North Carolina’s lead swelled to 34-11. The overwhelmingly Spartan crowd had lost its intimidating edge, and the Spartans’ body language screamed, “This can’t be happening.”

MSU players shook their heads, clapped their hands in disgust and slowly walked to the bench during timeouts. A once giddy group had gone flat in a matter of minutes.

“We came out firing, and we were hitting on all cylinders early on,” Bobby Frasor said. “You could just see it in their eyes that they were like, ‘Really? What more can we do?’”

The 21-point halftime lead was the largest NCAA championship game history, and UNC’s 55 points in the first period were the most ever by a team in the title game.

But then again, UNC’s public display of basketball supremacy shouldn’t have come as a complete surprise.

North Carolina had dominated five teams en route to the championship game. Why would Monday night be any different?

The Spartans led only once (3-2), and the one-point advantage lasted only 19 seconds.

For the entire tournament, the Tar Heels trailed for 9:50 out of a possible 240 minutes. A meager five-point deficit to LSU in the second round was UNC’s largest of the tournament.

The Spartans did mount a late charge in the second half behind the play of Goran Suton, who led MSU with 17 points.

They cut the lead to 13 points with about four minutes remaining, but an ensuing Lawson layup pushed the lead back to 80-65. The Spartans’ window for a comeback had been slammed shut.

“I don’t know, man, that says a lot,” senior Danny Green said of UNC’s run through the tournament. “(It) just tells you how good this team can potentially be, and how we’re going to be remembered forever. We just want to become legendary.”

 

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.