I was pulling for the Illini, for the simple reason that NC's already won 3 of these things. But alas, it wasn't meant to be. Of course, shooting an NCAA record
40 three-pointers didn't help matters for them, especially when they only connected on 12 of them... They needed to develop more of an inside presence at some point, but due to Sean May scaring the poor guys to death in there, they just kept settling for the long range bombing. Poor game plan, which should've been altered a bit at some point in the game, I think.
But the
better more talented team won. NC could be sending anywhere from 3 to 5 of those guys to the NBA next year, so they certainly had the studs to make it happen, and thank God for Roy Williams having those players, to finally get that gorilla off his back. He would've been screwed had they not held onto this one. Sorry Brian R. and Jason, and any other IL fans out there...
NCAA hoops. That's a wrap! See ya'll next year, when UCLA will surprise everyone with a return to their former glory. Yeah. You heard it here first...
![Cool 8)](https://www.jedidefender.com/yabbse/Smileys/classic/cool.gif)