Heels save the best for last

You can bury the ghost of Kansas.

The only thing Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson and this North Carolina group will be remembered for is winning the 2009 national title.

Well, winning the national title and playing maybe the best first half in the history of the title game.

A focused and determined UNC team dispatched Michigan State 89-72 for their fifth NCAA title and second in five years.

They scored 55 points in a brilliant first half and led by 21 points at the break — both records in the national title game.

Michigan State's turnovers (21) and 3-point shooting (7-of-23) doomed its inspiring run and disappointed the home-state crowd of 75,000-plus at Detroit's Ford Field.

Each of UNC's past three title wins — Michigan in 1993 and Illinois in 2005 — have come against the Big Ten. The Heels have been especially good against Michigan State, going 5-0 in tournament games (Roy Williams is 3-0 against Tom Izzo).

Williams, once known as the coach who couldn't win the big game, improved to 6-5 in his career at the Final Four with two national titles, joining Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Calhoun and Billy Donovan as the only active coaches with multiple titles.

Kansas raced past UNC and its former coach in last year's Final Four, winning 84-66 in San Antonio.

So much of this season — right from Hansbrough, Lawson and Wayne Ellington's decision to return — has been about atoning for that missed step.

The Heels started Monday like a team on a mission, against a team considered to be on a mission — playing for the economic -ravaged city of Detroit and state of Michigan.

UNC hit six of their first seven shots (18 of 34 in the first half and 28 of 61 for the game), jumping out of the gates and all over an offensively-challenged MSU team, 22-7 in less than 6:30 minutes into the game.

The first half was a redux of UNC's 98-63 win over MSU on Dec. 3 in the same building. This game was supposed to be different — with the support of the white-clad crowd and the presence of Goran Suton — but it was never competitive after the opening minutes.

Ellington's 19 points — 17 coming in the first half on a blistering 7-of-9 effort — were apart of balanced scoring effort that featured 21 from Lawson (and eight steals) and 18 from Hansbrough.

Hansbrough ends his illustrious career as the ACC's career-leading scorer, UNC's career leading rebounder and a national champion.


-- J.P. Giglio