North Carolina Shines
April 7th, 2009 at 9:28 amBy Chris
And just as easily as it began, college basketball closed the book on another season with the crowning of North Carolina as National Champions, doing so in dominant fashion. By now, you’ve been recapped enough — Side note: is it just coincidence Stuart Scott was on-hand to recap the game as ESPN’s late-night SportsCenter, which was debuting its Los Angeles show? He hasn’t done a 1am SportsCenter in forever. Nice homerism, World Wide Leader. — so I won’t rehash what you already know. The Heels were the best team, and they simply overpowered Michigan State from the opening tap, starting the game with a 22-7 run. From there, it was academic.
How many times have you been able to say, during a National Championship game, that it’s over by the first TV timeout? And be right?
MOP surprise?
Wayne Ellington was the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, something I made mention of yesterday. Even though Ellington did have a great game (19 points, 4 rebounds), Lawson deserved the award. The Carolina point guard broke the NCAA title game steals record by collecting seven. Oh, and Lawson accomplished this not-so-little feat by halftime. He was also 15-18 from the charity stripe and generally controlled the flow — and outcome — of the game.
Without Lawson, Carolina doesn’t beat LSU, Oklahoma or Villanova.
