Louisville Beats Michigan To Win The National Championship In An Epic Game

Streeter Lecka/Getty ImagesLouisville beat Michigan 82-76 to win the national championship tonight in Atlanta.

It was a great, well-played game in a tournament plagued by a lack of scoring and offensive skill.

Michigan jumped out to a big first half lead thanks to freshman back-up point guard Spike Albrecht.

Albrecht had 17 first-half points — more than he scored in the entire months of January and February combined.

But Louisville then stormed back, and slowly but surely took control of the game in the second half.

The key play came with two minutes left. Up 76-70, Louisville's Chane Behanan absolutely beasted his way through three defenders to made a lay-up to ice the game:

Behanan and fellow big man Gorgui Dieng were key down the stretch. Behanan had 15 points and 12 boards, and Dieng had 8 points and 5 boards.

Michigan's Trey Burke — the consensus national player of the year — was also excellent. But his 24 points just weren't enough in the end.

Great game, the right team won.