In a game matching the top-seeded teams in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship, it was fitting that the outcome was decided in the last minute of the contest.

When the final horn sounded, North Carolina held off Illinois' comeback effort to post a 75-70 victory in front of 47,262 fans at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis April 4.

It was the fourth national championship for the Tar Heels and the first for head coach Roy Williams, who came into the tournament as the coach with the most wins without a title.

Junior forward Sean May, named the tournament's most outstanding player, led North Carolina with 26 points and 10 rebounds in the championship game. It's the second NCAA title in the May family, since his father Scott helped Indiana win the 1976 championship to culminate an undefeated season.

The North Carolina players, 33-4 this season, took particular pride in giving Williams a chance to cut down the nets at the conclusion of the tournament. After capturing the last rebound of the game and waiting for the last seconds to tick off the clock, May sprinted the length of the floor to give his coach a hug.

Williams, a 1972 North Carolina graduate, spent 15 years at Kansas where he guided the Jayhawks to four Final Four appearances (1991, 1993, 2002 and 2003). Kansas was the national runner-up in 1991 and 2003. Now, Williams knows the feeling of having the best team in college basketball.

"For Coach to be able to say that the first team to get him a championship was the 2005 team is an honor," May said. "He'll win a few more before he's done."

Williams was an assistant at North Carolina from 1978 to 1988 under hall of fame coach Dean Smith. Williams, who is 470-116 (.802) in his head coaching career and now has won 41 tournament games, was on the bench when the Tar Heels won the 1982 title to give Smith his first national championship.

He repeated the same mantra Smith said to him 23 years ago after winning the final game.

"I'm really not that much better of a coach than I was three hours ago," said Williams, who is in only his second season at his alma mater. "I surely want to thank these youngsters sitting beside me. It's a great moment for our staff and our families. It's a great moment for these youngsters who have these moments, these thrills and these memories for the rest of their lives."

North Carolina, which led 40-27 at halftime, had to endure some anxious moments down the stretch as Illinois overcame a 15-point deficit.

Illinois tied the score twice in the final minutes, the last time at 70-70 after Luther Head made a three-pointer with 2:40 left in the game. North Carolina held Illinois scoreless the rest of the game. Although the Illini had some good opportunities to score, their shots found only the rim.

Tar Heels freshman forward Marvin Williams tipped in a missed shot by Rashad McCants with 1:27 to play to give his team a two-point advantage. North Carolina junior point guard Raymond Felton made a key steal and sank three of four foul shots in the final 25 seconds to seal the victory.

Felton finished the game with 17 points and seven assists, while McCants, another member of North Carolina's heralded junior class, scored all 14 of his points in the first 20 minutes. They joined May on the all-tournament team.

Head led Illinois with 21 points. Deron Williams and Dee Brown contributed 17 and 12 points, respectively. The Illinois backcourt, which was the strength of the top-ranked club all season, was 10-of-34 from three-point range against the Tar Heels. Head and Williams were named to the all-tournament team.

In the end, though, Illinois' guard-oriented attack had no answer for the 6-9, 266-pound May, who went 10-of-11 from the field.

While Illinois came up five points short in the final game, coach Bruce Weber said it shouldn't take away from the incredible run his club had over the course of the season.

"It goes down in history," said Weber, of his 37-2 team. "Not only Illinois history. We tied for the most wins ever. You get to the championship game. You know, I mean, if you're not happy with this, I feel sorry for you, because life ain't getting better."

Things couldn't be brighter for North Carolina and Williams after capturing the program's first national title in 12 years.

"He's the greatest coach," Felton said. "If he retired tomorrow, I would vote for him for the hall of fame. He told us he would bring us a championship, and we did it as a team."

Regionals

Chicago regional -- Illinois 77, Wis.-Milwaukee 63; Arizona 79, Oklahoma St. 78; Illinois 90, Arizona 89 (ot).

Albuquerque regional -- Louisville 93, Washington 79; West Virginia 65, Texas Tech 60; Louisville 93, West Virginia 85 (ot).

Syracuse regional -- North Carolina 67, Villanova 66; Wisconsin 65, North Carolina St. 56; North Carolina 88, Wisconsin 82.

Austin regional -- Michigan St. 78, Duke 68; Kentucky 62, Utah 52; Michigan St. 94, Kentucky 88 (2ot).

Semifinals

Illinois 72, Louisville 57

Louisville: Ellis Myles 8-12, 1-1, 7, 17; Juan Palacios 0-0, 0-0, 4, 0; Francisco Garcia 2-10, 0-0, 1, 4; Taquan Dean 4-15, 2-2, 1, 12; Larry O'Bannon 4-10, 2-2, 4, 12; Lorrenzo Wade 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Brandon Jenkins 2-3, 2-2, 2, 8; Otis George 1-4, 2-5, 6, 4. TOTALS: 21-54, 9-12, 26 (1 team), 57.

Illinois: James Augustine 1-3, 4-6, 11, 6; Roger Powell 9-13, 0-0, 5, 20; Luther Head 6-13, 2-2, 6, 20; Deron Williams 2-7, 0-0, 5, 5; Dee Brown 3-10, 0-0, 3, 8; Rich McBride 0-1, 0-0, 1, 0; Warren Carter 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Nick Smith 2-3, 0-0, 0, 4; Jack Ingram 4-6, 0-0, 5, 9. TOTALS: 27-56, 6-8, 38 (2 team), 72.

Halftime: Illinois 31, Louisville 28. Three-point field goals: Louisville 6-20 (Jenkins 2-2, O'Bannon 2-5, Dean 2-9, Garcia 0-4); Illinois 12-30 (Head 6-11, Powell 2-3, Brown 2-9, Ingram 1-1, Williams 1-5, McBride 0-1). Officials: James Burr, Ed Hightower, Doug Shows. Attendance: 47,754.

North Carolina 87, Michigan St. 71

Michigan St.: Alan Anderson 0-4, 0-0, 4, 0; Paul Davis 6-16, 2-4, 15, 14; Shannon Brown 6-14, 0-0, 1, 15; Drew Neitzel 1-3, 0-1, 3, 2; Maurice Ager 6-18, 10-10, 3, 24; Chris Hill 1-6, 0-0, 1, 3; Matt Trannon 1-1, 2-2, 3, 4; Anthony Hamo 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Kelvin Torbert 4-11, 0-0, 5, 9; Tim Bograkos 0-0, 0-1, 1, 0; Drew Naymick 0-1, 0-0, 4, 0; Andy Harvey 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Delco Rowley 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS: 25-74, 14-18, 42 (1 team), 71.

North Carolina: Jawad Williams 9-13, 0-0, 8, 20; Rashad McCants 7-11, 1-2, 6, 17; Sean May 9-18, 4-6, 7, 22; Raymond Felton 6-12, 2-2, 8, 16; Jackie Manuel 0-1, 0-0, 3, 0; Jesse Holley 0-1, 0-0, 1, 0; Melvin Scott 0-2, 4-4, 2, 4; Reyshawn Terry 1-2, 0-0, 0, 2; Quentin Thomas 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Charlie Everett 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Wes Miller 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Marvin Williams 1-6, 0-0, 8, 2; David Noel 2-5, 0-3, 4, 4; C.J. Hooker 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS: 35-71, 11-17, 51 (3 team), 87.

Halftime: Michigan St. 38, North Carolina 33. Three-point field goals: Michigan St. 7-23 (Brown 3-6, Ager 2-6, Torbert 1-4, Hill 1-5, Davis 0-1, Neitzel 0-1); North Carolina 6-20 (McCants 2-3, J. Williams 2-5, Felton 2-6, Scott 0-2, Holley 0-1, Terry 0-1, M. Williams 0-1, Noel 0-1). Officials: Robert Donato, Reggie Greenwood, Randy McCall. Attendance: 47,754.

Championship game

North Carolina 75, Illinois 70

North Carolina: Jawad Williams 3-6, 0-0, 5, 9; Rashad McCants 6-15, 0-0, 2, 14; Sean May 10-11, 6-8, 10, 26; Raymond Felton 4-9, 5-6, 3, 17; Jackie Manuel 0-1, 0-2, 3, 0; Melvin Scott 0-2, 0-0, 2, 0; Reyshawn Terry 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Quentin Thomas 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Marvin Williams 4-8, 0-1, 5, 8; David Noel 0-0, 1-2, 3, 1. TOTALS: 27-52, 12-19, 34 (3 team), 75.

Illinois: James Augustine 0-3, 0-0, 2, 0; Roger Powell 4-10, 0-0, 14, 9; Luther Head 8-21, 0-0, 5, 21; Deron Williams 7-16, 0-2, 4, 17; Dee Brown 4-10, 2-2, 4, 12; Richard McBride 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Warren Carter 0-1, 0-0, 1, 0; Nick Smith 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Jack Ingram 4-9, 2-2, 7, 11. TOTALS: 27-70, 4-6, 39 (2 team), 70.

Halftime: North Carolina 40, Illinois 27. Three-point field goals: North Carolina 9-16 (Felton 4-5, J. Williams 3-4, McCants 2-5, Scott 0-1, M. Williams 0-1); Illinois 12-40 (Head 5-16, Williams 3-10, Brown 2-8, Powell 1-2, Ingram 1-3, Carter 0-1). Officials: Ed Corbett, John Cahill, Verne Harris. Attendance: 47,262.