| National championship game | |||||||||||||
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 University of Phoenix Stadium before the NCAA men's Final Four. | |||||||||||||
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| Date | April 3, 2017 | ||||||||||||
| Venue | University of Phoenix Stadium,Glendale, Arizona | ||||||||||||
| MVP | Joel Berry II,North Carolina | ||||||||||||
| Favorite | North Carolina by 2 | ||||||||||||
| Referees | Verne Harris, Michael Stephens, & Mike Eades[2] | ||||||||||||
| Attendance | 76,168 | ||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||
| Network | CBS | ||||||||||||
| Announcers | Jim Nantz (play-by-play) Bill Raftery andGrant Hill (color) Tracy Wolfson (sideline) | ||||||||||||
| Nielsen Ratings | 14.5/24 (22.998 million viewers) | ||||||||||||
The2017 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game was the final game of the2017 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. It determined the national champion for the2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The game was played on April 3, 2017, at University of Phoenix Stadium, now known asState Farm Stadium, inGlendale, Arizona, between theGonzaga Bulldogs and theNorth Carolina Tar Heels. North Carolina defeated Gonzaga, 71–65, to win its sixthmen's basketball national championship.[3]
This was the first national championship game to be played in a state in either theMountain orPacific time zones sincethe 1995 game, which was held at theKingdome inSeattle,Washington.[4] North Carolina was playing in its second consecutive title game (and eleventh overall), after losing to Villanova at the buzzerthe previous year.[5] Meanwhile, Gonzaga was playing in its first-ever title game.[6] It was the second national title game in three years – and the eighth overall – to be played between two No. 1 seeds.[7][8]
In his seventeenth year at the helm, Gonzaga head coachMark Few led the team to its first Final Four and national championship game in school history, following a sweet sixteen appearance the year before.[9] The team opened the season winning their first two games prior to competing in theAdvoCare Invitational. The Bulldogs beatQuinnipiac andFlorida in order to reach the championship game versusIowa State. The Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead and held it through half time, reaching eighteen points in the second-half.[10] However, with four minutes to go the Cyclones rallied to cut the Bulldogs' lead to one at 70–69.[10] Gonzaga won the game 72–71 as Iowa State missed a potential three-point shot as time expired to leave.[10] This was their third time winning the event after previously doing so in 2008 and 2012.[10] Following their defeat ofSouth Dakota, Gonzaga entered their conference season with an undefeated record and broke the school record for most consecutive wins to start a season with twelve.[11]
After a 29–1 regular season and winning the2017 West Coast Conference regular season championship, Gonzaga beatPacific andSanta Clara en route to the2017 West Coast Conference tournament finals, where they defeatedSaint Mary's.[12] The Bulldogs were the #1 seed in the West Regional of the 2017 NCAA Tournament.[13]
In the first round of the tournament, after a tightly contested first half againstSouth Dakota State, Jordan Mathews' 16 points andPrzemek Karnowski's three consecutive baskets built a 20-point lead with 5 minutes left, helping Gonzaga to come away with a 66–46 win.[14] In the second-round game againstNorthwestern, Wildcat head coachChris Collins, trailing by five with five minutes left – after trailing by as many as 22 in the second half – stomped onto the court when a goal-tending call was missed.[15] Collins subsequently drew a technical foul, thereby dooming Northwestern's chances of winning the game, as Gonzaga would prevail to win 79–73.[15]
In Gonzaga's Sweet 16 game againstWest Virginia, Mathews hit a go-ahead three-pointer with less than a minute remaining to give Gonzaga a 60–58 lead. Gonzaga won the game 61–58 and advanced to the Elite Eight.[16] In the Elite Eight, led byNigel Williams-Goss' 23-point performance, Gonzaga routedXavier 83–59 to reach the Final Four for the first time in school history.[17]
Gonzaga defeatedSouth Carolina 77–73 in the Final Four led by 23 points from Williams-Goss and 27 points from Gonzaga's big men.[6] AJosh Perkins foul preventingSindarius Thornwell's game-tying three-pointer with 3.5 seconds left enabled the Bulldogs to advance to the championship game.[6]
After a 26–6 regular season, North Carolina beatMiami (FL) in theACC tournament before losing toDuke in the semifinals.[18][19] Despite the loss, North Carolina was selected as the top seed in the South regional as an at-large.[20]
In the first round of the tournament,Justin Jackson broke out of a shooting slump and led North Carolina with 21 points to a 103–64 win overTexas Southern.[21] In the second round againstArkansas, after blowing a 17-point first half lead and trailing 65–60 with under three minutes remaining,Kennedy Meeks led a North Carolina comeback with 16 points and a huge tip-in with 44.2 seconds remaining to put UNC ahead 68–65 as they survived to win 72–65, and advance to the Sweet 16.[22]
In the Sweet 16,Joel Berry II and Jackson led North Carolina to a 92–80 win overButler with 26 and 24 points, respectively, to advance to the Elite Eight for the 26th time in program history.[23] In an Elite Eightshowdown between two college basketball blue bloods, North Carolina beat Kentucky 75–73 on a jump shot byLuke Maye with 0.3 seconds left, advancing to its second consecutive appearance – and record-setting 20th overall appearance – in the Final Four.[24] Maye's shot is additionally remarkable for its similarities to Duke playerChristian Laettner's shot against Kentucky in the1992 Elite Eight 25 years earlier. Both Maye and Laettner wore the number 32;[25] both games involved a No. 1 seed blue-wearing team from North Carolina playing against No. 2 seed Kentucky in the Elite Eight; and both scored a long two-pointer at or near the buzzer to win the game. Laettner himself noted the similarities in a tweet.[26]
Next, North Carolina defeatedOregon 77–76 in the Final Four to advance to the championship game.[5]Meeks led the Tar Heels with adouble-double – a career-high 25 points and 14 rebounds – including an important offensive rebound of a Berry missed free throw with 4.0 seconds left to clinch the victory.[5]
| No. | Name | Position | Height | Weight | Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Silas Melson | G | 6-4 | 195 | Jr. |
| 2 | Jack Beach | G | 6-2 | 175 | So. |
| 3 | Johnathan Williams | F | 6-9 | 228 | Rs. Jr. |
| 4 | Jordan Mathews | G | 6-4 | 203 | Sr. |
| 5 | Nigel Williams-Goss | G | 6-3 | 195 | Rs. Jr. |
| 10 | Bryan Alberts | G | 6-5 | 198 | Rs. So. |
| 13 | Josh Perkins | G | 6-3 | 190 | Rs. So. |
| 14 | Jacob Larsen | C | 6-11 | 227 | Fr. |
| 15 | Rem Bakamus | G | 6-0 | 173 | Rs. Sr. |
| 21 | Rui Hachimura | F | 6-8 | 225 | Fr. |
| 22 | Jeremy Jones | F | 6-6 | 210 | Rs. So. |
| 23 | Zach Norvell Jr. | G | 6-5 | 205 | Fr. |
| 24 | Przemek Karnowski | C | 7-1 | 300 | Rs Sr. |
| 25 | Ryan Edwards | C | 7-1 | 230 | Rs. Jr. |
| 32 | Zach Collins | F | 7-0 | 230 | Fr. |
| 33 | Killian Tillie | F | 6-10 | 200 | Fr. |
| 55 | Duane Triano | G | 6-3 | 180 | Rs. Jr. |
| Reference:[27][28] | |||||
| No. | Name | Position | Height | Weight | Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Nate Britt | G | 6-1 | 175 | Sr. |
| 1 | Theo Pinson | F/G | 6-6 | 211 | Jr. |
| 2 | Joel Berry II | G | 6-0 | 195 | Jr. |
| 3 | Kennedy Meeks | F | 6-10 | 260 | Sr. |
| 4 | Isaiah Hicks | F | 6-9 | 242 | Jr. |
| 5 | Tony Bradley | F | 6-10 | 240 | Fr. |
| 11 | Shea Rush | F | 6-6 | 200 | Fr. |
| 13 | Kanler Coker | G | 6-4 | 200 | Sr. |
| 14 | Brandon Robinson | G | 6-5 | 162 | Fr. |
| 21 | Seventh Woods | G | 6-2 | 180 | Fr. |
| 24 | Kenny Williams | G | 6-4 | 180 | So. |
| 25 | Aaron Rohlman | F | 6-6 | 210 | Jr. |
| 30 | Stilman White | G | 6-1 | 178 | Jr. |
| 32 | Luke Maye | F | 6-8 | 235 | So. |
| 44 | Justin Jackson | F/G | 6-8 | 210 | Jr. |
| Reference:[29][30] | |||||
The game was televised in the United States byCBS.[31]ESPN International had the media rights outside of the United States.[32]
Radio coverage in the United States was provided byWestwood One.[33]
| Gonzaga | Position | North Carolina | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nigel Williams-Goss | G | Joel Berry II | ||
| Jordan Mathews | G | G/F | Theo Pinson | |
| Josh Perkins | F | Isaiah Hicks | ||
| Johnathan Williams | F | G/F | †Justin Jackson | |
| Przemek Karnowski | C | F | Kennedy Meeks | |
| †2017 Consensus First Team All-American | ||||
CBS |
Monday, April 3, 2017 6:20 pmMST |
| #W1 Gonzaga Bulldogs 65,#S1 North Carolina Tar Heels71 | ||
| Scoring by half:35–32, 30–39 | ||
| Pts:N. Williams-Goss – 15 Rebs: N. Williams-Goss – 9 Asts: N. Williams-Goss – 6 | Pts:Joel Berry II – 22 Rebs:Kennedy Meeks – 10 Asts: Joel Berry II – 6 | |
University of Phoenix Stadium,Glendale, Arizona Attendance: 76,168 Referees: Verne Harris, Michael Stephens, Mike Eades |
Gonzaga led North Carolina at the half, 35–32.[3] North Carolina outscored Gonzaga in the second half, 39–30, to win the championship. Gonzaga was up two points with 1:52 remaining, but North Carolina came back and clinched the victory in the closing minutes.[3]
North Carolina won despite a poor (4-for-27) conversion rate of 3-point shots, and the Tar Heels made more points from free-throw conversions (15-for-26). The game included a total of 44 fouls.[36] Overall, there were 26 free-throws for each side,[37] leading theAssociated Press report to deride the game as merely a free-throw contest.[3]
In contrast to the positive reaction[38] to theprevious year's title game—in which UNC lost to Villanova at the buzzer—many criticized the quality of play in the 2017 championship. North Carolina head coachRoy Williams did so as well, commenting during the trophy presentation ceremony that "neither team played very well."[39]
The media generally blamed officiating for the game's low quality. Both teams were in the bonus eight minutes into the second half. TheAssociated Press labeled the game "unwatchable."[3] Mark Tracy of theNew York Times declared it a "sluggish slog of a national title game."[40] Myron Medcalf, writing forESPN, wrote that the game was blighted with "an abundance of foul calls, poor offense and a sleep-inducing rhythm."[41] Chris Chase ofFox Sports lamented how the referees had "ruined" the contest through a combination of incorrect foul calls, missed calls, and superfluous use of instant replay.[42] Tom Ley ofDeadspin condemned the game as "memorably disgusting."[43]
Multiple prominent current and former basketball players vocalized their distaste for the game's quality of officiating on social media, includingLeBron James,[44]Dwyane Wade,[44]James Worthy,[44] andJay Williams.[45]