North Carolina won the school's sixth NCAA men's basketball championship last night with a 71-65 victory over Gonzaga, and the "Tar Heels celebrated in front of 76,168" at Univ. of Phoenix Stadium (
ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 4/4). The "most talked-about part" of the game was the officiating, and
LeBron James took to Twitter to "vent about the excessive whistles and stoppages of play." He tweeted, "I would like to see the kids decide who wins the game!" (
MCCLATCHY NEWS, 4/3). The game was "sloppy" (
CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 4/4). FOXSPORTS.com goes with the header, "
The Refs Ruined The NCAA Championship Game."
Front-Page Headlines: Raleigh News & Observer: "Redeemed!" ... Charlotte Observer: "Brought To Heel" ... Greensboro News & Record: "Looking At Six" ... Spokane Spokesman-Review: "So Close" ... Seattle Times: "Dream Of NCAA Title Slips Away From Zags"
When NCAA President Mark Emmert was "introduced on the floor to present the championship trophy, he was immediately and emphatically booed by UNC fans" due to the ongoing investigation into the school's academic scandal (K.C. STAR, 4/4). UNC coach Roy Williams, who won his third title with the school, addressed the issue postgame. Williams: "I know that we did nothing wrong. ... But there were some mistakes made at my university that I'm not happy about either" (USA TODAY, 4/4). Thanks in part to "legal stalling" by UNC, the NCAA probe "continues several years after the scandal's revelation" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 4/4).
Williams "doesn't sound excited about the prospect" of meeting President Trump in the "traditional White House visit" (SI.com, 4/4). Williams said, "I don't know that we're going to get invited" (USA TODAY, 4/4).
