North Carolina Tar Heels Become Best College Basketball Team In The Nation

Posted by Stiletto Jen 3,263 views

The North Carolina Tar Heels began the season on a mission to show the country that they were the best team in college basketball. And with their 89-72 win over Michigan State, they did just that.

The game was pretty much over five minutes after it began. Carolina jumped out to a 17-7 start.

An article on CBS Sports said “North Carolina led 36-13 around the time Dancing With The Stars was starting on another network. At least nobody knew how that one was going to end.”

Well, actually, DWTS was just ending, not beginning. Duh.

But anyway, the point is, UNC took off and never looked back. They were absolutely swarming on defense and a huge threat on offense. CBSSports message boards have called it “a ferocious display of athleticism and coaching.”

Their win over State gives UNC their second title in five years and their fifth overall. Ugh. They are so becoming like the Yankees of college basketball. Full of talent and always winning stuff but if you are not a fan of theirs, you really can’t stand them—and you can’t stand to see them win!

Ugh. The world is going to be a big sea of Carolina Blue as Tar Heel fans flock to rock their gear and get new merchandise. Wow, they really are just like the Yankees and their fans! Kidding!

I really hate to say this–it breaks my heart a little bit–but the Tar Heels really made the Spartans look like a high school JV basketball team. They just looked so lost out there on the court while UNC looked totally in control and smooth the entire time.

In fact, their perfomance was so bad that I almost believe that President Obama offered to pay them off to lose! Maybe he promised a multi-billion dollar bailout to the entire city of Detroit if the Spartans just gave up so he could win his bracket. And look really smart for picking the National Champions.

Just kidding. Kinda.

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The facts of the game:

UNC:

They didn’t just dominate and win, they broke all kinds of records.

Most points ever scored in the first half of a title game: 55
Largest half-time lead in a title game: 21
Most steals in a Final Four game: 8, Ty Lawson
For the entire tournament, the Tar Heels only trailed their opponents for a total of 10 minutes in all six games combined.
They also are the only team to ever win all six games by over 12 points.

Stats:

Ty Lawson nets 21 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists,
Wayne Ellington 19 points, 4 rebounds, 8 steals
Tyler Hansbrough 18 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists.

Head Coach Roy Williams has now won 2 National Championships in the six years he has been back at UNC

Ty Lawson was named Player of the Game.

Wayne Ellington was actually named Player of the entire Final Four.

Danny Green became the first Tar Heel to wear his Carolina blue jersey 145 times. He has also racked in more victories than any Tar Heel in his four years.

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Mich State

Facts

Most turnovers ever ……..
Most Disappointing NCAA game performance ever….

Okay, so those might not be 100% accurate. But, in the first half, Mich State had FOURTEEN turnovers! And only 12 baskets! That’s just crazy! The second half wasn’t much better. They finished with 21 turnovers total and only 1 steal.

UNC only had 7 TOs…. and 9 steals.

I will give them this credit though. The 2009 Final Four at Ford Field boasts the largest attendance of an NCAA Tourney ever–and by about 8,000 people.

2009 Ford Field: 72,922 fans
2003: New Orleans 64,959 fans

Stats

Goran Suton: 17 points, 11 rebounds
Kalin Lucas: 14 points, 7 assists
Durrell Dummers: 13 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists

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Check out my March Madness Correspondent (aka my boy Erik)’s Live Photos from the NCAA Championship Game!

To see his photos from the Mich State-UConn match-up check out Live from Detroit, It’s Saturday Night Final Four Photos!

Also, check out my other NCAA Championship posts:

One Shining Moment 2009: March Madness Compilation Video

UNC Tar Heels National Championship Gear

About the author: Jennifer Taglione is the owner of this fabulous website Stiletto Sports. Despite writing well over 500 posts, she still maintains that she is not a sports writer! She is however a huge fan of Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald, Mark Sanchez, the Celtics, and totally kicks butt on March Madness brackets! Connect with her by following her on Twitter @StilettoSportsJ and subscribing to her weekly newsletter. For more info check out the About the Editor page!