The 2009 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game was the final game of the

2009 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 2009 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 65 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament that determined the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's basketball national champion for the 2008– ...

and determined the National Champion for the 2008-09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The game was played on April 6, 2009, at

Ford Field Ford Field is a domed American football stadium located in Downtown Detroit. It primarily serves as the home of the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL), the Michigan Panthers of the United Football League (UFL), the Mid-Americ ...

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

as the final game of the Final Four. The game was played between the South Regional Champions, No. 1-seeded

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, and the Midwest Regional Champions, No. 2-seeded

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

. The Tar Heels defeated the Spartans 89–72. This game was a rematch of Basketbowl II of the 2008 ACC-Big Ten Challenge which was also played at

in which North Carolina also dominated Michigan State with a 98–63 victory.

Participants

Michigan State Spartans

In their first game of the Tournament, Raymar Morgan scored 16 points to help the Spartans defeat

Robert Morris Robert or Bob Morris may refer to: :''Ordered chronologically within each section.'' Politics and the law * Robert Hunter Morris (1700–1764), lieutenant governor of Colonial Pennsylvania * Robert Morris (financier) (1734–1806), one of the Foun ...

77–62. In the Second round of the Tournament, Travis Walton scored a career-high 18 points to help beat

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

74–69 and advance to the Sweet Sixteen. In the Sweet Sixteen, Michigan State came back from a 36–29 deficit at halftime and

Kalin Lucas Kalin Jay Lucas (born May 24, 1989) is an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball for Michigan State University. High school career Considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, Lucas was listed as the No. 6 point ...

scored seven points during the final 49 seconds including making five straight free throws to beat

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

67–62 and advance to the Elite Eight. In the Elite Eight, the Spartans dominated No. 1-seeded

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

, holding them to their second lowest point total of the season (52), only one shot in the final 5:18, and just 38.3 percent shooting in a 64–52 win. In the Final Four, Kalin Lucas scored 21 points and Raymar Morgan scored 18 points as Michigan State controlled the tempo of play with solid all-around play holding

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

to only 18 mid-range shots or 3-pointers only making three of those as Michigan State beat

82–73. Michigan State was the first team since

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

to play the national championship game in their home state.

North Carolina Tar Heels

North Carolina got off to a hot start in the Tournament as

Tyler Hansbrough Andrew Tyler Hansbrough (born November 3, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for seven seasons, as well as internationally. In college, Hansbrough was a star with t ...

scored 22 points to become the leading scorer in ACC history and

Wayne Ellington Wayne Robert Ellington Jr. (born November 29, 1987) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is a player development coach for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Known for his shooting ability, ...

scored 25 points to lead North Carolina to a 101–58 dominating win over Radford. In the Second round,

Ty Lawson Tywon Ronell Lawson (born November 3, 1987) is an American professional basketball player who is currently a free agent. He played college basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels where he won the 2009 national championship his junior year. ...

scored 23 points (21 of them coming in the second half) and once the game was tied at 63–63, North Carolina finished off with a 21–7 run to beat

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

84–70. In the Sweet Sixteen, North Carolina went 11–19 on three-pointers while Tyler Hansbrough had a double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds and Ty Lawson scored 19 points (17 in the first half) and had nine assists and one turnover as North Carolina defeated

Gonzaga Gonzaga may refer to: Places *Gonzaga, Lombardy, commune in the province of Mantua, Italy *Gonzaga, Cagayan, municipality in the Philippines *Gonzaga, Minas Gerais, town in Brazil *Forte Gonzaga, fort in Messina, Sicily Surname *House of Gonza ...

98–77. In the Elite Eight, Ty Lawson led North Carolina with 19 points to beat

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

72–60 and advance to the Final Four. In the Final Four, Tyler Hansbrough had a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds which made him the sixth leading scorer in NCAA Tournament history and in addition, Ty Lawson scored 22 points and Wayne Ellington scored 20 points to beat Villanova 83–69 to advance to the national championship game. North Carolina was the third team since 1985 to advance to the national championship game having won their previous five tournament games by 10 points or more. The other two teams were

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

as they beat

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

by 10 in the 2001 national championship game and

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

as they beat

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

by 13 in the 2000 national championship game.

Team rosters

Starting lineups

Game summary

North Carolina got hot early during the 2009 National Championship Game, as they got off to a 34–11 lead with 9:46 remaining in the 1st half. North Carolina kept their dominance going as they had a 55–34 lead at halftime, which marks the largest halftime lead in NCAA Tournament History and the most points scored in the 1st half in NCAA Tournament History. The game was over before it began as North Carolina had a 17–7 lead with 15:35 remaining in the 1st half, and the game never got closer. North Carolina won the game 89–72, as

's 18 points,

's 19 points, and

's 21 points all led to the rout of Michigan State to win the national championship. By beating Michigan State by 17, North Carolina became the 1st team since

to win all their NCAA Tournament games by double digits. Also, their +121 point differential during the 2009 NCAA Tournament was the 2nd highest since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, trailing

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

who had a +129 point differential during the 1996 NCAA tournament.

References

{{2009 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball navbox NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game NCAA Division I men's basketball championship games Michigan State Spartans men's basketball North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball Basketball competitions in Detroit College basketball tournaments in Michigan NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game