In the end, Rick Pitino out-coached John Beilein on the day he was named to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Pitino is now the only coach to win national championships with two different schools. He won at Kentucky in 1996 and now Louisville.
He also just told Jim Nantz that he will be getting a tattoo to celebrate the victory.
The Cardinals finished off the first half strongly and picked up where they left off in the second half. Luke Hancock had 22 points for Louisville and Peyton Siva had 18, running the team all over the place. Mitch McGary was invisible for Michigan. Spike Albrecht still has 17 points.
The secondary story was the officiating. At times the referees appeared to be letting the teams play a physical game while at other times...not. Even before that terrible block-called-foul, Beilein was seemingly protecting Trey Burke from foul trouble for much of the game.
He held him out too long—14 minutes in the first half—and keep him in at the wrong time late in the game. With Michigan needing a foul to stop the clock and prolong the game, the Wolverines burned at least 20 seconds off the clock because Burke was on the court and wouldn't give up the foul.
This is all nit-picking, of course. Someone has to lose, even in great games. Tonight, Michigan lost and Rick Pitino got another national championship, a Hall of Fame bid and a tattoo.