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    North Carolina gets redemption by winning national title

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    Locker room reactions: UNC downs Gonzaga for title

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    Fans arrive for NCAA championship game

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    Shot Clock: Breaking down UNC-Gonzaga

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    Six strange story lines in the national championship

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    The rowdiest student section at the Final Four isn’t even in the game

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    North Carolina on what it will take to defeat Gonzaga

  • Gonzaga's Nigel Williams-Goss on their status against North Carolina

    Gonzaga’s Nigel Williams-Goss on their status against North Carolina

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    Road to the Final Four means a lot of miles traveling

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    Oregon reacts to heartbreaking loss in Final Four

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    North Carolina on advancing to 2nd title game in a row

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    South Carolina on tough loss to Gonzaga

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    Gonzaga reacts to Final Four win over South Carolina

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    North Carolina-Gonzaga will be throwback national title game

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    Semifinal games come down to final plays

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    Gonzaga fans in Glendale react to win over S. Carolina in NCAA semifinal

  • Fans pack University of Phoenix Stadium lawn for Final Four

    Fans pack University of Phoenix Stadium lawn for Final Four

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    Top players to watch in the Final Four

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    Gamecocks explain what a gamecock is

  • North Carolina on being back to the NCAA Final Four

    North Carolina on being back to the NCAA Final Four

  • Oregon on counting their blessings

    Oregon on counting their blessings

  • Gonzaga on rising to the moment

    Gonzaga on rising to the moment

  • Piece by piece, the court for the NCAA Final Four tournament is put together in Glendale

    Piece by piece, the court for the NCAA Final Four tournament is put together in Glendale

What we learned in North Carolina’s 71-65 victory over Gonzaga in the NCAA men’s basketball national championship game at University of Phoenix Stadium on Monday.

Making a memory

Monday’s championship will be memorable for Arizona because it was the first Final Four played at University of Phoenix Stadium.

It will be memorable for North Carolina for the obvious reasons.

It will be memorable for Gonzaga because it was the Bulldogs’ first Final Four appearance.

For the rest of the nation, however, Monday’s championship had few, if any, shining moments. There were more than an average number of air balls, clanked shots, poor passes and bad calls from the officials.

You know how sometimes networks show old games in the wee hours of the morning? That’s not going to happen with the 2017 NCAA Championship Game.

RELATED: North Carolina secures 6th national title with win over Gonzaga in Glendale

Doesn’t anyone know how to shoot anymore?

University of Phoenix Stadium is not a shooter’s gym. In three games at the Final Four, Gonzaga was the only team to shoot better than 40 percent, and that came in the semifinal victory over South Carolina.

On Monday, the Bulldogs shot 33.9 percent, including 8 of 29 (27.6 percent) in the second half. The Tar Heels were only marginally better, shooting 35.6 percent. That included going 4 of 27 from 3-point range (14.8 percent).

Sure, defense played a part. But playing basketball in a football stadium is not conducive to shooting percentage.

Folks can gripe all they want about that, but it’s not changing. There were 76,168 people in attendance Monday night.

Doesn’t anyone know how to officiate any more?

We typically don’t criticize officials, but there wasn’t any continuity in the way Monday’s game was called. NCAA games tend to be physical affairs, but the big men were not allowed to play that way on Monday.

North Carolina’s Kennedy Meeks scored just 10 points.

Each team had 22 fouls called on it. But the second half had no flow because the officials called it tight. There were 27 fouls called in that half.

Gonzaga’s top three big men finished with at least four fouls. North Carolina’s two starting inside players, Meeks and Isaiah Hicks, each had four.

Zach Collins, Gonzaga’s backup center, fouled out and at least two of the calls against him were beyond questionable.

The semifinal games on Saturday were officiated smoothly, but the championship game was a different story.

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Big names, little games

Some of the better players on both teams played poorly. Gonzaga center Przemek Karnowski, who averages 12 points a game, made just 1 of 8 shots, and many of the misses weren’t difficult attempts. He also had four turnovers and committed four fouls.

North Carolina’s leading scorer, Justin Jackson, scored 16 points but it took him 10 shots to do it. He made only six of them and was 0 of 9 from 3-point range.

Gonzaga guard Nigel Williams-Goss scored 15, but it took him 17 shots to get there. He went 3 for 11 in the second half and failed to convert in the final minute when Gonzaga desperately needed a bucket.

Turnovers anyone?

Gonzaga led by three at the half, but blew that in the first few minutes of the second half. On their first seven possessions, the Bulldogs missed five shots and committed two turnovers. North Carolina went on an 8-0 run to take the lead.

Gonzaga bounced back, but turnovers continued to hinder them throughout the second half. They committed nine of them and finished with 14. The Tar Heels had only four.

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