When Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green all decided to return to Chapel Hill after flirting with the NBA Draft last spring, they had one mission in mind: Win the national championship. With a relentless effort, those four led North Carolina to an 89-72 win against Michigan State in the NCAA championship game.
Lawson completed a remarkable run with 21 points, six assists and eight steals. He struggled from the field, making only 3-of-10 field goal attempts but made 15-of-18 free throw attempts. When the tournament started, speculation run rampant that Lawson’s injured toe would derail the Tar Heels. Instead, Lawson proved his mettle in guiding his team to the championship. He set a new championship game record for steals, and seven of them occurred in the first half when North Carolina bum-rushed the Spartans en route to a 55-34 halftime lead, the largest in championship game history. The 55 points is also a new tournament record for points scored in the first half.
Ellington fueled the Tar Heels’ offensive attack in the first half with 17 points, including three three-pointers. He finished with 19 points. Junior Deon Thompson started strong with eight points in the first nine minutes. The offensive outburst gave North Carolina a 34-11 lead after 10 minutes.
Michigan State regained its composure after that, but the Spartans never scored more than five consecutive points as the Tar Heels had an answer for every attempted run. And the Spartans defused their own runs with 21 turnovers in the game. Senior Goran Suton had a strong game with 14 points and 11 rebounds, but he was outplayed by Hansbrough, who finished his illustrious career with 18 points and seven rebounds.
The second half had a markedly slower pace, as coach Tom Izzo tried to get his Spartans to play in greater control and chip away at the lead. The team seemed to be more comfortable at the slower pace, but North Carolina responded by playing efficient half court offense. For the entire game, North Carolina committed only seven turnovers. The Tar Heels struggled from the field in the second half, but finished with 25-of-36 free throws to hold off any Spartan rallies.
