In their first game of the Tournament, Raymar Morgan scored 16 points to help the Spartans defeat Robert Morris 77–62. In the Second round of the Tournament, Travis Walton scored a career-high 18 points to help beat USC 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 scored seven points during the final 49 seconds including making five straight free throws to beat Kansas 67–62 and advance to the Elite Eight. In the Elite Eight, the Spartans dominated No. 1-seeded Louisville, holding them to their second lowest point total of the season, 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 to only 18 mid-range shots or 3-pointers only making three of those as Michigan State beat Connecticut 82–73. Michigan State was the first team since Duke in 1994 to play the national championship game in their home state.
North Carolina
North Carolina got off to a hot start in the Tournament as Tyler Hansbrough scored 22 points to become the leading scorer in ACC history and Wayne Ellington scored 25 points to lead North Carolina to a 101–58 dominating win over Radford. In the Second round, Ty Lawson scored 23 points and once the game was tied at 63–63, North Carolina finished off with a 21–7 run to beat LSU 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 and had nine assists and one turnover as North Carolina defeated Gonzaga 98–77. In the Elite Eight, Ty Lawson led North Carolina with 19 points to beat Oklahoma 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 Duke in 2001 as they beat Arizona by 10 in the 2001 National Championship Game and Michigan State in 2000 as they beat Florida by 13 in the 2000 National Championship Game.
Starting lineups
† = 2009 All-American
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 Tyler Hansbrough's 18 points, Wayne Ellington's 19 points, and Ty Lawson'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 Duke in 2001 to win all their NCAA Tournament games by double digits. Also, their +121 point differential during the 2009 NCAA Tournament was the 2nd highest in Tournament History since 1985 trailing Kentucky who had a +129 point differential during the 1996 NCAA Tournament.
