April 4, 2005

By KEITH PARSONS
AP Sports Writer

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Sean May no longer needs to carry around the videotape of his father's national championship game. Now he has one of his own.

The North Carolina center made all but one of his 11 shots and scored 26 points in a dominating performance, controlling the paint and leading the Tar Heels past Illinois 75-70 Monday night.

In the process, May forced one of his defenders to foul out and left another with four fouls. And May left with the Most Outstanding Player award.

No surprise there. The son of Scott May carried North Carolina to the Final Four by averaging 21.5 points and 11.8 rebounds in the tournament, slightly better than his regular-season numbers.

When he and his teammates arrived in St. Louis, he showed them the footage from the 1976 final, where his father, Scott, and Indiana completed an undefeated season with a victory over Michigan.

May had the tape since high school and had seen it before, but he saved one final viewing for the Tar Heels.

Then they went out and claimed the NCAA title, sprinting away to a big lead before holding off a late comeback by the Illini. May added 10 rebounds, grabbing the carom after a last miss by Illinois' Deron Williams in the final seconds.

Quite a night for May on his 21st birthday.

"This celebration is a lot better than that '76 celebration, 'cause it's my celebration and this team," May said. "I never understood what it was like, I never won anything on this level."

Illinois had rarely faced someone so rugged.

"It's tough to stop May," Illini coach Bruce Weber said.