ChicagoSportsBlogs : Non Compete

It was a game similar to the previous battle with Arizona. At one point, Illinois found itself down by 15 points. The first half of this game was brutal. Carolina executed flawlessly by scoring off of turnovers and playing good defense. After the game coach Weber admitted his team didn't seem “to go after it” as much as Carolina did in the first half. It showed. The old adage of live by the three, die by the three has never been truer. Illinois went something like 12 out of 40 from the arc. That's a lot of threes. Give credit to Carolina and their coach Roy Williams. He clearly braced his team for the Illini's run in the second half. They were prepared on that final play. They knew Luther Head was going to kick out a pass instead of going up strong. Who could blame him? Sean May was standing there, right?

I think the Illini made some critical mistakes, hindsight being 20/20 and all. Luther Head had the moves and the chance to go to the hole all night. We never put any pressure on them in the paint defensively. It was clear that they could run with us. Their guards are just as good as Illinois'. They shot the same percentage from the arc throughout this tournament as Illinois. Only they did it by taking fewer shots. Championships can't be won without balance. Not in this tournament. Carolina was the better team on many levels. They made less mistakes, capitalized on their opponents failings and had an NBA caliber center in the post. They also played great defense at the end. Those are the characteristics of a team that deserves to cut down the nets. Better luck next year to the Illini. It was a fun run.