By Eddie Pells
Associated Press
DETROIT ó There was a team of destiny out there, all right. It’s the North Carolina Tar Heels, and the final chapter of their story was about as heartwarming as a demolition derby.
Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson and North Carolina won a national championship a season or more in the making, stomping out Michigan State’s inspirational run Monday night with an 89-72 blowout that wasn’t even that close.
Hansbrough scored 18 points, Wayne Ellington had 19 and Lawson led all scorers with 21 and also had a record eight steals ó and now they and Danny Green can all head to the NBA feeling good about their decision to return to school to bring home Carolina’s fifth championship, and the second for coach Roy Williams.
All those upperclassmen, save Hansbrough, came back in part because their draft prospects didn’t look so good. They also didn’t want their college careers to end on last year’s embarrassing loss to Kansas in the Final Four. That was a dud of a game in which they trailed 40-12 in the first half and Billy Packer was telling CBS viewers it was over.
This time, North Carolina led 36-13 around the time “Dancing With The Stars” was starting on another network. At least nobody knew how that one was going to end.
“We’ve been working so hard since last year when we fell short,” said Ellington, named most outstanding player. “I wanted to redeem myself. We worked so hard.”
Michigan State (31-7) simply never got any momentum. From the start, it was clear there was no way Carolina was losing control of this one, no chance for the Spartans to serve up that definitive ray of sunshine and warm-and-fuzzy smile for a state that’s been battered by the ailing economy.
“The best team won,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “That’s an easy statement to make.”
The Tar Heels (34-4) were up 55-34 at halftime, breaking a 42-year-old title-game record for biggest lead at the break and setting the mark for most points at the half.
“We handled injuries, handled some losses” this season, Williams said. “The youngsters standing behind me are great, great young men. I’m the luckiest coach in America, I can tell you that.”
This collection of NBA talent was too, too much from wire to wire, from the start of the tournament, to the very end.
Carolina won every game by double digits, something that hasn’t happened since Duke did it in 2001.
Lots of basketball fans saw this coming, including America’s No. 1 Hoopster-in-Chief.
Yes, President Barack Obama picked the Tar Heels to take it all in his much-publicized bracket.
Magic Johnson, Michigan State’s Spartan-in-Chief, joined Larry Bird at center court to present the game ball, a tribute to the 30-year anniversary of their historic matchup and Michigan State’s first title.
From there, it was pretty much all “Showtime,” all the time ó but not for Michigan State. Heck, Magic didn’t even stick around for the end of the game. He was spotted walking up the tunnel with 31/2 minutes left.
Izzo tried to call a timeout to stop the onslaught with 6:45 left in the first half. His team came out and promptly turned it over ó one of 14 in the first half, compared to only 12 baskets.
Goran Suton led the Spartans with 17 points, and Kalin Lucas, the Big Ten player of the year, had 14 ó most scored once the game was out of hand, which was very early in this one. Michigan State pulled within 13 a couple times late in the second half, and the crowd of 72,922 ó mostly pulling for the Spartans ó tried to make some noise.
But for most of the game, cavernous Ford Field had the atmosphere of a Lions game, save the few thousand Tar Heel fans whose Carolina Blue team put in a much better blue-collar effort than the team that was supposed to pride itself on that.
As for that 98-63 beatdown Carolina put on Michigan State in this same building back on Dec. 3? No fluke. In fact, Detroit might want to give Ford Field a nice, long break. The Lions went 0-16 here last season, and there was no halt to the suffering on this night.
It was, almost literally, over before it began. Ellington had a double-pump scoop layup and a 3-pointer and Hansbrough spotted up and sank a 14-foot jumper ó all in the first 4:25 to put Carolina ahead 17-7. It never got closer.
The Spartans, meanwhile, were having trouble simply getting the ball in after Tar Heel buckets, turning it over that way twice in the first 6 minutes, part of a depressing day that didn’t do justice to the effort they put in to get here.
During pregame introductions, Williams walked over to shake hands with Izzo, who was distracted, drawing up a play on the greaseboard in the huddle. He jokingly showed the diagram to Williams ó and you know what: It probably wouldn’t have mattered.
Izzo conceded in the lead-up to the game that if both teams played their best, Michigan State would lose. He’ll never find out if he was right because, while North Carolina was more than ready, the Spartans never showed up.
“You’ve got six NBA players that could be drafted in the first round or early second,” Spartans guard Travis Walton said. “You’re looking at a team that could probably beat the worst team in the NBA.”
Williams, never afraid to cry at these things, joined Jim Calhoun, Billy Donovan and Mike Krzyzewski as the fourth active coach (13th overall) to win multiple titles.
This one came four years after his first championship ó and for the first time, with a roster full of his own recruits.
Hansbrough was the only one who knew he wanted to come back from the get-go. He simply loves college, and though his senior season wasn’t quite as good as the year before, the ending was much better. Nobody on Michigan State could stop him ó no shame there ó and he had seven rebounds and two assists to go with the 18 points.
Lawson was often criticized for not looking to shoot enough and he sort of went back to his roots in this one. He finished only 3-for-10 from the floor, but was a dominating presence, with six assists, a record seven steals by halftime and a whopping 18 trips to the free-throw line.
Oh, and don’t forget Ed Davis. We’ll be seeing the 6-10 freshman in the pros with these other guys someday soon. He went 5-for-7 for 11 points with eight rebounds in 14 minutes and may have proven all he needs to, as well.
Overall, North Carolina dominated every matchup on the floor in pretty much every way. The Tar Heels were a unanimous No. 1 in the preseason and became the first UNC team to start and finish at No. 1 since 1982.
Michael Jordan was the star of that team.
There may not be any Jordans on this team, but there were plenty of Hansbroughs and Lawsons and Ellingtons ó more than enough to finish off a project that seemed destined to end on a ladder in Detroit, with scissors and twine in their hands.