South Carolina star center Alaina Coates suffered a season-ending ankle injury during the SEC tournament, and she hadn’t made the trip to Dallas to watch her teammates play in the Final Four and national title game.

Before Sunday’s title game against Mississippi State, the pregame show on ESPN criticized Coates’ absence, calling it “bizarre.”

Coates, who was obviously watching the broadcast, took to Twitter and blasted ESPN for speculating about her absence at the game. She cited medical reasons.

On Saturday, South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said that Coates was going to come until the medical staff intervened.

The senior center averaged 12.9 points and 10.7 rebounds this season for South Carolina.</s>IUPUI coach resigns after drunken driving arrest

Jason Gardner, who was entering his sixth season as basketball coach at IUPUI, has resigned following his arrest for OWI. He was found asleep behind the wheel at an intersection.</s>North Carolina, whose heartbreaking loss in the N.C.A.A. tournament championship game a year ago provided one of the game’s indelible moments — the buzzer-beating shot by Villanova’s Kris Jenkins — avenged that defeat with a win over Gonzaga, 71-65, on Monday to claim its sixth national title.

The No. 1-seeded Tar Heels returned many of the players who left the court in Houston devastated a year ago. But at University of Phoenix Stadium, they could finally bask in the confetti that rained down from the rafters.

They beat Gonzaga, another No. 1 seed, which was making its first appearance in the Final Four. The Bulldogs (37-2), representatives of a small Jesuit school in Spokane, Wash., have never won an N.C.A.A. championship in any team sport. The men’s basketball team has been a constant presence in the N.C.A.A. tournament for nearly two decades, but this year — with only one loss coming into Monday — was arguably their strongest team to date.

It was a sloppily played game, and at times poorly officiated, as the referees seemed to miss several calls in the second half.</s>GLENDALE, Ariz. — This NCAA Championship game is about redemption.

This NCAA Championship game is about respect.

This is all hooey, really, but we’ll go with it for a moment.

MORE: When did your team last win a national title in college basketball?

It is about redemption for the North Carolina Tar Heels because they lost the 2016 title on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Villanova forward Kris Jenkins that will forever rank among the most famous shots in NCAA Tournament history.

It is about respect for the Gonzaga Bulldogs because even after the public scoffed at their revolutionary advance from mid-major to national power because they annually failed to advance beyond the Sweet 16 — and then scoffed after a 2015 Elite Eight run because the Zags still hadn’t reached a Final Four — many still scoff again because GU’s run to the title game was “too easy” with a No. 11 seed as the opponent in the regional final and a No. 7 seed in the national semis.

The truth, though, is it’s about none of this. For each team, it is about this one opportunity to win it all, to be the group bathing in the streamers and confetti that will be released from the University of Phoenix Stadium at the final buzzer, and not the one assaulted by this deluge.

College basketball is a transitory sport. No team ever is precisely the same from year to year. Each is a product of its program’s history, of course, but the Tar Heels who lost last season were led by guard Marcus Paige and forward Brice Johnson, both seniors. They almost certainly will be delighted if the Heels can win, but they will not be a part of it. They cannot be redeemed, so to speak.

“I was just so happy and so relieved we have another shot. I dreamed about this every day since that game and that shot that Kris made against us,” Pinson said. “Now we get another shot to make up for that, I guess. And we can do it for Marcus and Brice, also.”

The Gonzaga players who blew that big lead against UCLA in the 2006 Sweet 16, or the one to Wichita State in the 2013 second round, are either playing professionally or finished competitively. They were essential to building toward this moment but can’t do much to help now.

North Carolina talks about being fueled by the opportunity to make up for what it lost last season because it needs to be fueled by something. For the same reason you listen to Prince or Bruno Mars or Foo Fighters or Taylor Swift during a workout, the Tar Heels needed motivation to push them through the investment necessary to traverse the college basketball offseason training and regular-season grind.

If it weren’t losing in the title game, the motivation would have been rooted in falling short of the Final Four, or getting upset in a first-round game, or whatever. And the media would seize that story because it’s easily explained and processed.

Did using the title-game loss help the Heels? Probably. They’re here. So it’s likely the thought of that night in Houston was worth another couple reps on the squat rack, or another 100 jumpers on a July afternoon. It serves as a bonding agent for the members of the team who experienced that heartbreak 12 months ago.

Williams-Goss said in the locker room following the Zags’ semifinal victory over South Carolina that when the team first assembled, the players agreed that any goal but an NCAA Championship would be “selling ourselves short.” Asked Sunday if he felt as though Gonzaga were a mid-major program, he again mentioned his belief that the team always believed it was capable of winning the title.

Asked if the Zags relished the opportunity to play an elite opponent in North Carolina after the road they traversed to the title game, he wasn’t as diplomatic.

“I’m not going to lie to you: That question really bothers me. We played who we played because they won games,” Williams-Goss said Sunday. “You look at the teams that South Carolina beat, they beat Duke, they beat Baylor by 20, they beat Marquette, and Xavier beat Maryland, they beat the 3-seed Florida State by 25, they beat Arizona. So we can only play who wins those games. We relish the opportunity to play whoever we’re playing.”

Most likely Williams-Goss will mention that to his teammates during the hours leading up to the championship tip-off: They still don’t believe in us.

The Zags will take motivation where they can get it. The Heels will remember last year’s defeat. When they play, though, all that will matter is the 40 minutes that remain of the 2017 college basketball season. In a season that typically has been a bit odd, they have been undoubtedly the two best, most complete teams. That’s what got them here. The rest is packaging.</s>If your bracket is in shambles, you can blame these teams.

If your bracket is in shambles, you can blame these teams.

If your bracket is in shambles, you can blame these teams.

If your bracket is in shambles, you can blame these teams.

The champs are here! After defeating SEC rivals Mississippi State 67-55 in Dallas, the women Gamecocks basketball team returned home to Columbia in stormy weather.

The champs are here! After defeating SEC rivals Mississippi State 67-55 in Dallas, the women Gamecocks basketball team returned home to Columbia in stormy weather.

South Carolina forward A'ja Wilson (22) holds the trophy as she and teammates celebrate their win over Mississippi State in the final of NCAA women's Final Four college basketball tournament, Sunday, April 2, 2017, in Dallas. (Source: AP Photo/Eric Gay)

South Carolina forward A'ja Wilson (22) holds the trophy as she and teammates celebrate their win over Mississippi State in the final of NCAA women's Final Four college basketball tournament, Sunday, April 2, 2017, in Dallas. (Source: AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Gonzaga's Johnathan Williams (3) reacts during the first half in the finals of the Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament against North Carolina, Monday, April 3, 2017, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

North Carolina's Theo Pinson (1) dunks during the first half in the finals of the Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament against Gonzaga, Monday, April 3, 2017, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)

GLENDALE, AZ (RNN) - North Carolina has won the 2017 NCAA basketball championship with a 71-65 victory over the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

Joel Berry II lead the game in scoring with 22 points, he played and gave heroic efforts through injuries to both ankles during the tournament.

Nigel Williams-Goss finished with 15 points, and a strong second half.

Locked in a defensive struggle, Gonzaga and North Carolina battled in a game full of poor shooting and a load of foul calls, with neither team shooting over 36 percent from the field.

North Carolina shot a dreadful percentage from three-point line, converting on less than 15 percent of their shots from behind the arc.

Gonzaga’s Przemek Karnowski had a tough game as he struggled with foul trouble and horrid shooting. He finished with only 9 points and shot 13 percent from the field, with most of his missed shots coming right at the rim.

Gonzaga held a slim 35-32 lead over North Carolina at the end of the first half.

North Carolina gave coach Roy Williams his third national championship after titles in 2005 and 2009 and a loss at the buzzer in last year’s championship game against Villanova. This will mark the 100th NCAA tournament game for Williams.

UNC’s return visit to the championship game for a consecutive year is a rare one in the history of the NCAA tournament.

Teams have only accomplished the feat six times before, including a Dean Smith-coached UNC team that won the title in 1982, after falling short in 1981.

The Tar Heels are basketball aristocracy, but Gonzaga has been a small-school challenger for years.

Gonzaga first burst onto the national scene in 1999 when the unknown mid-major made it to the Elite Eight. But the Bulldogs have never gone further until now. Coach Mark Few was an assistant that first year, took over as head coach the next season, and has taken the team to the tournament each of his 18 years.

Before this year’s tournament, Gonzaga had a history of not being able to defeat the nation’s top ranked teams.

With a core group of seniors and juniors, this year’s team has proven to be a formidable opponent for the Tar Heels, along with touting a record of 37-1.

Gonzaga's only loss came to Brigham Young in the final game of the regular season.

North Carolina is 32-7 against a tougher schedule, but both teams have been dominant this year. Both are No. 1 seeds and both have been ranked No. 1 in the nation during the regular season.

Both had to dispatch tough opponents on the way to the finals.

Big man Kennedy Meeks saved the Tar Heels with 25 points and 14 rebounds in Saturday’s 77-76 win over Oregon.

Guard Nigel Williams-Goss led the Zags’ 77-73 win over South Carolina with 23 points, five rebounds and six assists.</s>GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Justin Jackson delivered the go-ahead three-point play and North Carolina scored the last eight points for a 71-65 win over Gonzaga and a title that heartbreakingly eluded the Tar Heels last year.

It was an ugly affair, filled with 44 fouls and 52 free throws but, ultimately, the contest with the result the Tar Heels (33-7) simply had to have.

This was their redemption season, and they closed the deal a year after losing on a 3-pointer at the buzzer to Villanova.

Carolina was down 2 with 1:40 left when Jackson took a pass under the bucket from Theo Pinson, made a layup and got fouled.

The free throw made it 66-65, and after a Gonzaga miss on the other end, Isaiah Hicks made a shot to help North Carolina start pulling away to the school’s sixth title.</s>North Carolina And Gonzaga Face Off For NCAA Men's Basketball Title

The University of North Carolina is up for its sixth overall title, while Gonzaga is going for its first, in Monday night's championship game.</s>GLENDALE, Ariz. – North Carolina won the 2017 NCAA men’s basketball championship in a 71-65 win over Gonzaga on Monday night.

The Tar Heels won its sixth men’s national title after the title eluded last year’s team.

Mobile App Users: Click here to view this story</s>Seldom in life do we get what we actually desperately want.

For a year now — almost exactly to the day — all these North Carolina players wanted was a chance to redeem themselves, an opportunity to erase the heartbreak from last April’s national championship game loss. They wanted this: A title of their own.

And, somehow, they got just that, beating Gonzaga, 71-65, in Monday night’s national championship game here at the University of Phoenix Stadium.

The Tar Heels became just the fourth team to come back from losing the national championship the year before to go on and win it the following year. It is the third national championship for North Carolina coach Roy Williams, who has won all three with the Tar Heels and since 2005. It also gives him one more than his mentor, the late Dean Smith.

And this one didn’t come easy.

North Carolina's big men came up in the clutch. With Gonzaga trailing by three and looking to tie, Kennedy Meeks blocked a determined Nigel Williams-Goss and the play led to a breakaway and game-securing dunk.

And Isaiah Hicks, who struggled to find an offensive rhythm in previous tournament games, came up with a huge bucket with 22 second remaining. His 13 points and nine rebounds helped offset both teams' big men hampered by foul trouble, with the 'Zags' Zach Collins fouling out at the 5:03 minute mark.

The Tar Heels were plagued by poor shooting throughout much of the first half, shooting just 30.6% from the field and a putrid 15.4% from beyond the arc. The two players who carried North Carolina to the title game — Meeks and Justin Jackson — combined to score just 10 points prior to halftime.

But, much like their national semifinal win over Oregon, weathering the opponent’s storm proved to be more important than just about anything else. North Carolina, which trailed by three at the break, burst into the second half with an 8-0 run that forced Gonzaga coach Mark Few to call a timeout — which, in turn, prompted a roar from the North Carolina bench as the team gathered for a huddle.

Gonzaga’s strength — its enormity in the post — became problematic early in the second half as well, with all three of its bigs finding themselves in serious foul trouble, though some played through it.

The second half featured two teams teetering back and forth as if on a seesaw, a tight, nerve-wracking game befitting the grandest of the sport’s stages.

© Gannett Co., Inc. 2017. All Rights Reserved</s>GLENDALE, Ariz. — Seldom in life do we get what we actually desperately want.

For a year now — almost exactly to the day — all these North Carolina players wanted was a chance to redeem themselves, an opportunity to erase the heartbreak from last April’s national championship game loss. They wanted this: A title of their own.

And, somehow, they got just that, beating Gonzaga, 71-65, in Monday night’s national championship game here at the University of Phoenix Stadium.

The Tar Heels became just the fourth team to come back from losing the national championship the year before to go on and win it the following year. It is the third national championship for North Carolina coach Roy Williams, who has won all three with the Tar Heels and since 2005. It also gives him one more than his mentor, the late Dean Smith.

Justin Jackson delivered the go-ahead three-point play and North Carolina scored the last eight points for a 71-65 win over Gonzaga and a title that heartbreakingly eluded the Tar Heels last year.

It was an ugly affair, filled with 44 fouls and 52 free throws but, ultimately, the contest with the result the Tar Heels (33-7) simply had to have.

This was their redemption season, and they closed the deal a year after losing on a 3-pointer at the buzzer to Villanova.

Carolina was down 2 with 1:40 left when Jackson took a pass under the bucket from Theo Pinson, made a layup and got fouled.

The free throw made it 66-65, and after a Gonzaga miss on the other end, Isaiah Hicks made a shot to help North Carolina start pulling away to the school's sixth title.
North Carolina defeats Gonzaga, 71-65, for the 2017 men's basketball national title.