It ended with a blown 15-point lead in the second half, and then a stubborn refusal to lose in the end, as Illinois went down firing with 40 3-point attempts. It ended with hugs and handshakes and a 75-70 victory over the

No. 1 Illini, bringing a title to his alma mater, and deliverance to himself.

"They took me on a heck of a ride," Williams said. "To me, it means more to those kids.

"They're going to be part of my life forever."

No longer will he be the most successful college coach without a championship, a man who has 470 victories, but until yesterday, one win too few. No longer must he answer the same question, posed endless ways. No longer will he feel what he's called "a desperate desire."

This was the moment Williams had talked about last season, in the first uncertain days as North Carolina coach after arriving from Kansas, when he brought in every player, and told them that anything was possible by April 4, 2005. If only they would buy into what he had to say, and learn from what he had to teach.

"I am going to cry," guard Raymond Felton said. "He told us he would bring us a championship."

"I'll never forget this until the day I die," said May, named the most outstanding player.

"I believed it not because of my coaching," Williams said. "I believed it because of the kids."

His kids stepped forward yesterday.

North Carolina's Sean May scored 26 points last night and was named the NCAA Tournament's most outstanding player. Jeff Roberson • Associated Press

When they needed the defensive play that would shove a stake through Illinois' heart, Felton stepped in front of a Luther Head pass for an interception.

When they needed free throws, they made three in the final 25 seconds, while the Illini shot six all night.

And when they needed a saving hand at nearly any moment, they had May, the inexorable force inside who followed his father's footsteps to the championship podium.

Twenty-nine years after Scott May scored 26 points to help Indiana win the 1976 title, his son scored the same on his 21st birthday — 18 in the second half — to give North Carolina the fourth national championship in its history, only three years removed from an 8-20 season that shook Chapel Hill to its basketball soul.

"I tried to live up to my father's expectations," said May, who watched the 1976 tape three times the past two days, "even though he didn't want me to."

"He wanted to win a national championship. He played like it the whole tournament," Illinois coach Bruce Weber said of May.

"He's tough to defend. We tried everything."

For Illinois, having spent nearly the entire winter doggedly clinging to the No. 1 ranking, spring brought a painful last act.

Desperately trying to stay in the game, after rallying from 15 points behind in the last 18 minutes, the Illini missed four shots in the final 64 seconds, the last-ditch attempts of a night-long fusillade.

"Our kids played themselves to exhaustion," Weber said. "You shoot all those 3s, maybe you don't have legs at the end."

Illinois went 37-2, with the bittersweet knowledge that no team in the history of college basketball has ever won more games.

Rashad McCants had 17 for North Carolina, 14 in the first half. Head had 21 for Illinois, Deron Williams 17 and Dee Brown 12, in the last bow of Illinois' famed backcourt.

By halftime, with the Tar Heels ahead 40-27, the end seemed in sight for Roy Williams.

Every sign looked promising for North Carolina. Illinois was shooting 27 percent. James Augustine, vital to Illini plans to counter May, had played only seven minutes because of two early fouls.

The esteemed guard trio of Brown, Head and Williams had 15 points among them — or just one more than McCants had by himself for North Carolina.

Two minutes into the second half, the situation looked even worse for Illinois. Augustine had picked up two more fouls. The Tar Heels' lead had grown to 47-32.

Then the Illini found the range. They hit seven straight shots to cut the lead to 49-45.

Marvin Williams scores past Illinois' Jack Ingram in the first half. Later, Williams' tip-in would give North Carolina the lead for good, 72-70. Rick Mckee • Associated Press

And the Tar Heels still led 62-55.

More Illinois bad news. Augustine fouled out only 24 seconds after re-entering the game. The MVP of the Big Ten tournament was gone for good after no points and less then nine minutes.

Still, the Illini kept attacking.

Two Brown free throws finally pulled them even at 5:34. Head's 3-pointer tied it again at 70-70 with 2:38 left.

"You know," May said, "it's not supposed to be easy."

The night was left for someone to take. And there was Marvin Williams. A freshman making the big basket to heal a long-suffering North Carolina coach's pain. As Michael Jordan had done for Dean Smith 23 years ago.

Illinois finally gave way, trying to do what it had done best all year. Head could not get an open 3-pointer to fall. "A great look," he said later. "Just missed it.

Deron Williams missed another. Illinois rebounded again as it had done all night — in a curious and telling statistic, the Illini had nine more offensive rebounds but one fewer second-chance point.

Head tried to penetrate and dish off — making the extra pass that had carried the Illini so far. But Felton was in the way. "I thought I saw somebody open," Head said, "who wasn't open."

Roy Williams often mentions the words Dean Smith said to him right after Smith's own prolonged chase for a title ended in a victory in 1982. "I'm not any better coach," Smith said that night, "than I was 2ý hours ago."