The 2005 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game was the finals of the 2005 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and it determined the national champion for the 2004-05 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2005 National Title Game was played on April 4, 2005 at

Edward Jones Dome The Dome at America's Center is a multi-purpose stadium used for concerts, major conventions, and sporting events in downtown St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Previously known as the Trans World Dome from 1995 to 2001 and the Edward Jones Do ...

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, The 2005 National Title Game was played between the 2005 Chicago Regional Champions, #1-seeded

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

and the 2005 Syracuse Regional Champions, #1-seeded

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. For the 1st time since 1999, the national championship game was played between two #1 seeds.

Participants

Illinois

Illinois entered the 2005 NCAA Tournament as the #1 seed in the Chicago Regional. In the 1st round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament, Illinois survived a scare from

Fairleigh Dickinson Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university with its main campuses in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University currently offers more than 100 degree programs to its students. In addition to its tw ...

, rolling away with a 67-55 win after leading by just one at halftime. In the 2nd round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament, Illinois beat

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

71-59 for the chance to face

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

in the Sweet 16 and in the Sweet 16, the Illinois backcourt propelled them to a 77-63 win over Milwaukee to advance to the 2005 Chicago Regional Finals. In the 2005 Chicago Regional Finals, Illinois came back from a 15-point deficit with four minutes remaining to beat

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

90-89 in overtime to keep Illinois title hopes alive with a trip to the 2005 Final Four. In the 2005 Final Four, Illinois dominated

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

in the 2nd half, outscoring them 41-29. They would go on to win 72-57 and advance to the 2005 National Title Game.

North Carolina

North Carolina entered the 2005 NCAA Tournament as the #1 seed in the Syracuse Regional. In the 1st round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament, North Carolina used 73% shooting in the 1st half to claim a 96-68 victory over

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

. In the 2nd round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament,

Sean May Sean Gregory May (born April 4, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player and current assistant basketball coach at the University of North Carolina. May was born in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in Bloomington, Indiana. He was a ...

dominated with a double-double with 24 points and 17 rebounds and

Marvin Williams Marvin Gaye Williams Jr. (born June 19, 1986) is an American former professional basketball player. He played one season of college basketball for North Carolina before being drafted second overall by the Atlanta Hawks in the 2005 NBA draft. H ...

also dominated with a double-double with 20 points and 15 rebounds which led to UNC beating Iowa State for a chance to face Villanova in the Sweet 16 and North Carolina would hold off Villanova in the Sweet 16 beating them 67-66 to advance to the Elite Eight. In the Elite Eight,

had a double-double with 29 points and 12 rebounds and

Rashad McCants Rashad Dion McCants (born September 25, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player who has played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as well as overseas. He played for Trilogy in the BIG3 three-on-three league. High schoo ...

scored 21 points to beat

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

88-82 to advance to the 2005 Final Four. In the 2005 Final Four, North Carolina beat

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

87-71 to advance to the 2005 National Title Game.

Team rosters

Starting lineups

Game Summary

North Carolina was playing looking for its 4th National Championship while Illinois was playing in its first National Championship. It was a tight contest for much of the first half before an 8-0 run by North Carolina allowed them to take a 35-25 lead. Eventually they would take a 40-27 lead into halftime. North Carolina increased its lead to 15 at one point in the second half. But Illinois began a furious charge. At one point, they would hit seven consecutive shots from the floor to turn a fifteen-point lead back to four. Unfazed, North Carolina would push the lead back up to ten before a 10-0 run by the Illini tied the game at 65-65. Illinois would tie the game at 70-70 on a three by

Luther Head Luther Dale Head (born November 26, 1982) is a former American professional basketball player. High school Head attended Chicago's Manley Academy where he averaged over 20 points, eight assists and seven rebounds per game as a junior. Those n ...

. But North Carolina would fight back as freshman Marvin Williams tapped back a Rashad McCants missed shot to put North Carolina back in front. Illinois would get several cracks to take the lead but were unable to convert. Eventually, Raymond Felton was able to steal the ball from Luther Head, forcing

Deron Williams Deron Michael Williams ( ; born June 26, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Illinois Fighting Illini before being drafted third overall in the 2005 NBA draft by the Utah Jazz. A thr ...

to foul. However Felton converted on 1 of 2 free throws giving Illinois one last chance. Head's potential game-tying three pointer bounced high and out and went into the hands of Felton who this time connected on both free throws to give North Carolina a 75-70 victory. Illinois struggled offensively with what had succeeded the rest of the season, converting only 12 of a championship game record 40 three-point field goal attempts. With his stellar post play, North Carolina forward

managed to get Illinois defenders into foul trouble; starting junior forward/center

James Augustine James Augustine (born February 27, 1984) is a retired American professional basketball player who played as a forward. During the career he played college basketball for the Illinois Fighting Illini before being drafted 41st overall in the 2006 N ...

fouled out, and his substitute, senior Jack Ingram, quickly amassed four fouls. May scored 26 points as he took the Most Outstanding Player (MOP) of the Final Four. For North Carolina head coach Roy Williams, it was his first national championship. Illinois was denied a chance to set the NCAA record for most wins in a season, instead tying the 1998–99 national runner-up Duke team with 37 (

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

has since won 38 games in two different seasons). For almost the entire 2004–05 season, Illinois and North Carolina were ranked #1 and #2, respectively, in all polls, and both teams were the favorites to meet in the national championship game. With its collection of raw talent, North Carolina would go on to field six players in the NBA draft, while four Illinois players would be selected in future drafts, with undrafted Roger Powell, Jr. also playing briefly in the NBA. In 2014,

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

voted the 2005 Illinois team as the best team ever to not win a title.

References

{{2005 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball navbox NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Games Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball Basketball competitions in St. Louis College sports tournaments in Missouri NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game 2000s in St. Louis