April 5, 2005

By Brian Curtis
Senior Editor, CSTV

It's all over. We can go back to our jobs, our loved ones, our fantasy baseball websites. North Carolina is the national champion.

Run-N-Gun
I thought the game went as we expected -- lots of up and down, lots of shots, lots of Sean May. In this space on Monday morning, I predicted a 83-76 Tar Heels' win. The points were a bit lower but the difference was close. It didn't surprise me that neither Roy Williams or Bruce Weber altered their style of play greatly. I mean, this is the last game of the season and I don't think you want your guys doing something that they haven't been doing all year long.

Foul Play
Heading into the game, both teams averaged 73% from the free throw line, and though the free throws didn't factor that much into the outcome, the called fouls did. Raymond Felton spent time on the bench, as did Jackie Manuel.

The calls were more devastating for Illinois, with James Augustine picking up five ticky-tack fouls and scoring exactly zero points. Give James Ingram and Roger Powell credit for at least trying to slow down May, but without Augustine, the task proved too difficult.

May Day
While we're on the subject of May, he was simply unstoppable. He's a great example of a kid who put in the work in the offseason to make himself a more conditioned athlete and a more complete player. Did you see some his passes when he was double-teamed last night?

Live and Die
The Illini live and die by their perimeter shooting, and last night it proved to be a death knell. They shot 12 of 40 from three-point land (seems like they made more, especially in the second half.) When the shots don't fall, as they didn't at the end of the game, they simply didn't have another option.

So What Now?
The next few weeks will tell us a lot about the future of both these teams, as players begin the NBA exodus. Will McCants stay? Will Deron Williams? Heck, will freshman Marvin Williams leave now that he has a title? On the UNC side, I think the fact that they won the championship will send more of their players to the pros.

It was great season of college hoops, and it's not done yet, with a fantastic women's final on tap for tonight. Now it's time to officially throw away your brackets and get a real handle on your life.

Brian Curtis serves as an analyst and insider in all of CSTV's basketball programming and is CSTV's Senior Editor. He filed Daily Madness columns throughout the NCAA Tournament