This championship had it all: speed, aggression, a double-digit comeback, big plays by reserves. Michigan made more than half of its shots, but Louisville outrebounded the Wolverines and forced 12 Michigan turnovers. It was such an entertaining game, it's too bad they couldn't play another half … or three.
The Cardinals (35-5) lived up to their billing as the top overall seed in the tournament, though they sure had to work for it. Louisville trailed Wichita State by a dozen in the second half before rallying for a 72-68 victory. This time, they fell behind by 12 in the first half, then unleashed a stunning spurt led by Hancock that wiped out the entire deficit before the break.
Hancock lead Louisville in scoring with 22 points on the game, while Trey Burke lead Michigan with 24 points on the night. Burke started out on fire for Michigan, hitting his first three shots and scoring seven points to match his output from the semifinal victory over Syracuse, when he made only 1 of 8 shots. Hancock matched Albrecht from the 3-point stripe. Then, trapping the youngster and knocking the ball away, he set up a fast break that ended with Siva flipping up a lob that Montrezl Harrell slammed through for a dunk, capping a stunning 16-3 run in less than 4 minutes that gave the Cardinals their first lead of the night, 37-36.
Michigan had controlled play in the first half and actually had a one point lead going into the break. It wouldn't last though, as Louisville came out on fire and outscored the Wolverines in the 2nd half 45-38. What did in Michigan was mistakes, turning the ball over 12 times during the ball game and being outrplayed by the Cardinals in the 2nd half. Some would say that there were a few bad calls made by the refs during the course of the ball game, and they'd be correct. A few foul calls made against both squads were made, but the one against Michigan late is what did the Wolverines in at the end. With 5:09 left and Louisville ahead 67-64, Michigan point guard Trey Burke was called for a foul on Peyton Siva -- on what looked, on replays, like a clean block. Siva hit both free throws, jump-starting a 7-2 run that gave the Cardinals a 10-point cushion with three minutes left. The Wolverines never recovered. Now that had been a problem through most of the tournament in that the officiating had been below standards. So i just hope the NCAA takes a good, hard look at this during the summer months and get it fixed by the time basketball tips off again next fall.
With the win by Louisville it ended a 27 year drought between championships. Among schools with multiple titles in college hoops, that drought was the 2nd longest in the history of college hoops. The top four longest droughts between national championships are as follows: Kansas went 36 between titles (1952-1988), then its Louisville, who went 27 years between titles (1986-2013). North Carolina is 3rd with a 25 year drought (1957-1982). Finally its Indiana with a 23 year dry spell between titles (1953-1976).
So Congratulations to Louisville on winning the NCAA Men's Basketball National Championship!
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