North Carolina Wins Fifth Championship

North Carolina made their fifth college basketball national championship look easy. Up by 21 at the half, North Carolina cruised in the second half to win by a final score of 89-72. Michigan State, although undoubtedly a tough team, simply couldn’t match the talent that the Tar Heels put on the court.

North Carolina 2009 Champions (Image: Newscom)

Tyler Hansbrough put an exclamation point on his legendary college career by scoring 18 points and pulling down seven boards. However, the best player on the court had to be Ty Lawson, the speedy point guard for the Tar Heels. Lawson finished the game with 21 points, eight steals, six assists and four rebounds. Wayne Ellington, yet another North Carolina player who will one day play in the NBA, chipped in 19 points.

For Michigan State, bigman Goran Suton had 17 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks. Coming into March Madness, Suton wasn’t a widely known player. But after a number of memorable performances, he’s now known around the country. Kalin Lucas and Durrell Summers scored 14 and 13 points for the Spartans, respectively.

The game quickly got out of hand when North Carolina jumped out to a 34-11 lead. Their 21-point halftime lead was the largest in the history of the championship games.

“When you play North Carolina,” said Tom Izzo, the coach of the Spartans, “there’s nothing you can do.”

Nothing other than hand over a fifth national championship.