DETROIT — Coach Tom Izzo mused on Sunday about the Spartans’ 35-point loss to North Carolina on Dec. 3 at Ford Field: “We had some injured players then. If everybody had been healthy, we would have lost by only 20.”
He was about right. But Izzo was not amused on Monday night. His healthy Spartans lost to the Tar Heels by 17 in the NCAA championship game.
At halftime this one was worse than the other one — 55-34 instead of 53-39.
Why, it was beginning to look like the biggest Big Ten beatdown since Ohio State was in BCS football championships, and we haven’t seen anything so ugly in the Final Four title game since . . . since . . .
Denver in 1990?
That’s when UNLV ran Duke out of old Big Mac 103-73.
Denver still holds the all-time record. Good for us.
State did outdo Carolina 38-34 in the second half, and the Michigan multitudes in the football stadium-turned-gym finally had something to cheer about.
But, what’s love got to do with it?
The game of basketball is about shooting percentages, turnovers, free throws, steals, fast breaks, rebounds, assists. In the first 20 minutes, the Tar Heels had the advantages in all those categories and any others you can think of. In the hallway at intermission, the Tar Heels mascot was so tired he took his head off.
By the first timeout, North Carolina was shooting 85.5 percent. By the midway point of the opening half, North Carolina had more than tripled Michigan State in scoring, 34-11. By halftime, Ty Lawson and the Tar Heels would have done a number on Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels.
There is much to be said about outstanding players forsaking the big cash and returning to school. Florida’s Big Four came back and won the Final Four a second time in 2007. North Carolina’s Four Tops, who were embarrassed in the semifinals last year, came back, and look here. Lawson, Tyler Hansbrough, Danny Green and Wayne Ellington were influential in the victory. Now they’ll move on to the NBA.
At game’s end, Izzo went over to Hansbrough and “told him it was great to see a bunch of guys stay in school and win the whole thing. We had a cause, but so did they.”
Hansbrough said an hour later: “Sounds like I made a pretty good decision (returning for his senior season).”
The Heels were alive with the sound of Carolina music in Motown. Lawson had told me the day before that he always dreamed of making the winning shot in the Final Four, but “I’d prefer a blowout.” He had 21 points and a record-tying eight steals, but no winning shot. A blowout, preferably.
Is this the greatest NCAA champion ever? No. There were eight or nine title teams — from UCLA — that were stronger, and another half-dozen non-UCLA teams probably were better.
Is this the greatest NCAA champion ever from North Carolina? No. The Tar Heels also won in 1957, 1982, 1993, 2005, and the 1982 team, for sure, was superior. They won by two over a grand Georgetown team and had James Worthy, Sam Perkins and Michael Jordan.
Twenty minutes before Monday night’s game, His Airness arrived at Ford Field. We shook hands and exchanged pleasantries. As I asked Jordan about what he expected, his posse whisked him down the ramp. He turned and smiled. There was his answer.
Inside already were the other two of the Big Three — and I’m not talking about Ford, Chevrolet and Chrysler. Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Magic and Larry Legend earlier had discussed their own Final Four championship of 30 years ago. Magic has watched the replay of Michigan State’s triumph over Indiana State dozens of times. Larry said: “I just never watched it.”
The trio watched two of their teams.
“I’m part of something special,” said Hansbrough, wearing a net and beginning to cry.
Coach Roy Williams won his second national title (the same as Dean Smith), but said: “Roy Williams is not that good. His players are . . . Roy Williams does not belong in the sentence as Dean Smith.” He is in the same paragraph.
And he began to cry.
The Tar Heels were authoritarian in the first half, running like Usain Bolt and shooting like Annie Oakley.
“But I thought the difference was on the defensive end,” Williams said. “We wanted to keep them off the board and get turnovers. And we did that.”
North Carolina forced 14 turnovers (and committed only four).
“They went on some runs, and we missed some shots, and we got behind quick,” State’s Kalin Lucas said.
During one stretch of the first half North Carolina outscored Michigan State 16-4, and it was quickly a mismatch. The Spartans had to hold the score down, pull down rebounds and keep down the turnovers. Instead, they were just down.
There were open angles and fair lanes at Ford Field for the Tar Heels. The Spartans had their health, but couldn’t overcome the supremes.
Nothing could be finer than to be Carolina on Monday night.
Woody Paige: 303-954-1095 or wpaige@denverpost.com
