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North Carlrolina wins NCAA 2005 Championship  North Carolina ended 2004-05 NCAA season winning NCAA Tournament Championship. Illinois tried really to catch up with Tar Heels but they were short of time and managed to get as close as 5-points in the last minutes. N.Carolina lead from the first minutes controling the game till last minutes. Michael Jordan, who was watching the game live, was not disappointed seeing his alma mater with championship title. It's the fourth NCAA championship for North Carolina. Bruce Weber didn't want it to end for Illinois, not like this. As the final seconds slipped away on a season that was exhilarating, poignant and one victory short of the ultimate goal, the coach with the scratchy voice couldn't do anything but reflect on the journey. What a ride it was. The Illini won 37 times, tying the NCAA record for victories in a season. But they ended with a loss, 75-70 to North Carolina in the championship game Monday night. "It was so much fun," Weber said. "I cried last night in our meeting. I knew it would be our last meeting with this team and I didn't want it to end. I'm sad that it's over." Less than a month ago, Weber endured a gut-wrenching tragedy. His mother suffered chest pains while picking up her tickets for the Big Ten tournament. A few hours later, Dawn Weber died in surgery, the victim of a torn aorta just below her heart. Her son was back on the bench the next day, fighting through tears for the sport that has always bound the family together. He didn't stop coaching until the final game of the season, clad in a garish orange coat that matched the color of his players' uniforms and those tens of thousands of Illini fans who packed the Edward Jones Dome. Illinois fought back from a 15-point deficit early in the second half, tying the game a couple of times in the waning minutes. But the Illini never got over the hump, leaving their coach to watch helplessly as their last five 3-pointers clanged off the rim. "We went down fighting," Weber said. "We had a couple of looks, but they didn't go down. I can't ask for more." Weber came into the Final Four as the only coach who had never been there before. He was viewed as the guy who won the lottery when Matt Doherty was fired by North Carolina two years ago. That set off a chain of events that sent Roy Williams from Kansas to Carolina, Bill Self from Illinois to Kansas and Weber from Southern Illinois to Illinois. The new Illini coach wound up with a talented team, but he also deserves credit for keeping everyone together and getting Self's players to buy into a new system. And he fit right in at this Final Four. By AP N.Carolina - Illinois 75-70 (40-27, 35-43) N.Carolina: S.May 26+10reb, Felton 17, McCants 14, J.Williams 9, M.Williams 8, Noel 1, Manuel 0, Scott 0, Terry 0, Thomas 0 Illinois: L.Head 21, D.Williams 17, Brown 12, Ingram 11, Powell 9, Augustine 0, Carter 0, McBride 0, Smith 0
Final Four, Day 1: Semifinals Illinois (1) - Louisville (4) 72-57 (R.Roger Powell (198-F-83) 20, Luther Head (191-G-82) 20 - Ellis Myles (203-F-81) 17) N.Carolina (1) - Michigan St. (5) 87-71 (S.May 22, Williams 20, McCants 17, Felton 16 - M.Ager 24, Brown 15, Davis 14) Elite 8 Austin Region: Kentucky (2) - Michigan St. (5) 88-94, 2OT (!!!) (R.Morris 20, C.Hayes 16, P.Sparks 15 - S.Brown 24, M.Ager 21, P.Davis 15, A.Anderson 13) Syracuse Region: N.Carolina (1) - Wisconsin (6) 88-82 (S.May 29+12reb, R.McCants 21, R.Felton 19 - A.Tucker 25, K.Taylor 18, C.Hanson 15) Albuquerque Region: Louisville (4) - W.Virginia (7) 93-85, OT (T.Dean 23 - K.Pittsnogle 25) Chicago Region: Illinois (1) - Arizona (3) 90-89, OT (D.Williams 22 - C.Frye 24) Sweet 16 Austin Region Duke (1) - Michigan St. (5) 68-78 (!!!) (S.Williams 19 - P.Davis 20+12reb) Kentucky (2) - Utah (6) 62-52 (C.Hayes 12 - A.Bogut 20+12reb) Syracuse Region Wisconsin (6) - N.Carolina St. (10) 65-56 (A.Tucker 22 - E.Atsur 16) N.Carolina (1) - Villanova (5) 67-66 (S.May 14+10reb - R.Foye 28) Albuquerque Region Washington (1) - Louisville (4) 79-93 (!!!) (J.Williams 18 - F.Garcia 23) Texas Tech (6) - W.Virginia (7) 60-65 (!!!) (R.Ross 16 - K.Pittsnogle 22) Chicago Region Illinois (1) - Wisc.-Milwaukee (12) 77-63 (D.Williams 21 - J.Tucker 32) Oklahoma St. (2) - Arizona (3) 78-79 (J.Graham 26 - S.Stoudamire 19) All-American Teams 2004-05 NCAA USBWA All-American 1st Team Andrew Bogut (212-F/C-84), Utah Dee Brown (185-G-84), Illinois Chris Paul (183-G-85), Wake Forest J.J. Redick (193-G-84), Duke Wayne Simien (206-F-83), Kansas NCAA USBWA All-American 2nd Team Ike Diogu (203-F/C-83), Arizona State Luther Head (191-G-82), Illinois Sean May (203-F/C-84), North Carolina Salim Stoudamire (186-G-82), Arizona Hakim Warrick (203-F-82), Syracuse NABC All-America 1st Team Andrew Bogut (212-F/C-84), Utah Chris Paul (183-G-85), Wake Forest Wayne Simien (206-F-83), Kansas J.J. Redick (193-G-84), Duke Hakim Warrick (203-F-82), Syracuse NABC All-America 2nd Team Deron Williams (191-G-84) (Illinois) Dee Brown (185-G-84) (Illinois) Ike Diogu (203-F/C-83) (Arizona State) Francisco Garcia (201-F-81) (Louisville) Luther Head (191-G-82) (Illinois) NABC All-America 3rd Team Joey Graham (200-G/F-82) (Oklahoma State) Salim Stoudamire (186-G-82) (Arizona) Rashad McCants (193-G/F-84) (North Carolina) Nate Robinson (175-G-84) (Washington) Craig Smith (201-F-83) (Boston College) |
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