Louisville Beats Michigan to Capture Third National Title

Michigan Wolverines vs. Louisville Cardinals - NCAA Tournament Game - Recap - April 08, 2013 - ESPN

The Cardinals celebrating their third national championship with an 82-76 win over Michigan

Louisville was down 12 points at one point in the first half, but Junior Luke Hancock emerged from the bench once again to score 22 points to propel Louisville to its third national championship.  This is Louisville's first championship in 27 years.  This year's Louisville team had great chemistry.  They played well together and fought back every time they were in a hole.  They definitely did that during Saturday's game against Wichita State and last night's game against Michigan.  Peyton Siva had 18 points against Louisville and he showed spectacular leadership in this game.  Chane Behanan scored 15 points and had 12 rebounds.  Even though he didn't play, injured teammate Kevin Ware was at the game.  His teammates made no secret that they wanted to win this game for him.  Following the game, Ware cut down a strand of the net. 

This was Michigan's first time in a national championship game since 1993 when that team was led by Fab Five Chris Webber.  That team lost to North Carolina that year.  Trey Burke led all scorers at Michigan with 24 points.  Even though Michigan is a young team, they have tremendous talent and they can shoot the 3-point shot very well.  I wouldn't be surprised if they play in next year's national championship game against the University of Kentucky, who has the top recruiting class coming into next year's basketball season. 

I want to congratulate the Louisville Cardinals on their 3rd national championship.  They played well together throughout the season.  That's what made the difference in this year's national champion.  When the going was tough, they didn't fold.  They were determined to win and they always found a way to win, esp. after the five overtime loss to Notre Dame earlier during the conference season.  Since that loss, Louisville won sixteen straight to win the national championship.  Louisville also won a season high 35 games this year.  The previous record high wins were in 1980, when Louisville won 33 games to win the national championship, and 33 in 2005 when Louisville went to the Final Four that year.

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