2005 Men's NCAA Basketball Championship

North Carolina head coach Roy Williams started the day with the most ever tournament wins without a championship. By night's end, he would lose that distinction. UNC began the contest on a roll. Illinois was able to come back and the championship game was off and rolling.

Sean May led the North Carolina Tar Heels to their first NCAA Championship since 1993.


What followed was disastrous for the Fighting Illini. Their center, the man designated to stop Sean May- the immovable object- James Augustine found himself in foul trouble. Head Coach Bruce Weber tried virtually everyone he could find. Jack Ingram was the most successful, actually giving his team hope for a bit in the first half. Carter, Prince, and the ghost of Kendall Gill all had their turn to try and stop May. None of it worked, not even the spirit. UNC's playmaker, Raymond Felton played his way out of foul trouble in the first half and along with Rashad McCants helped the Tar Heels grab a 40-27 lead at the half.

The halftime speech seemed to fall on deaf ears when the lead grew to fifteen at the start of the second half. Augustine picked up two more fouls on the same defensive possession, which gave onlookers the belief that Illinois' chances of winning were swimming with the fishes.

But not this Illinois group. They proved they never give up against Arizona nine days prior. And though North Carolina is a better team than the Wildcats, Illinois showed why they've been the best team in the land for the last several months. Luther Head hit his outside shots. Ingram gave his team the lift they needed. Reverend Powell contributed. Dee Brown was like a blood hound. And Darren Williams is the man who leads this crew. In the face of a 10-0 Illinois run, North Carolina would not relent. McCants disappeared, and Marvin Williams felt the pressure, but Sean May put his squad on his wide shoulders.

It was Felton and May, whose 26 points and 9 rebounds was one more board than his father grabbed in his 1976 title bout for Indiana, that came through in the clutch. Head's threes fell off the mark and North Carolina won 75-70. The evening somehow seemed incomplete. It felt we needed to watch these two teams play a series to truly determine the better team. Illinois didn't lose, they simply ran out of time. UNC did win, their fourth championship in school history.