By Stewart Mandel, SI.com

One Shining Moment

	Jawad Williams had a monster game for the Tar Heels, delivering 20 points on offense, and supplying a strong defensive presence. AP

The recaps and box score from North Carolina's Final Four victory over Michigan State on Saturday will undoubtedly spotlight Jawad Williams' 20 points, but his most important contributions of the night came on a sequence in which someone else finished with the bucket.

With Michigan State down 56-49, Spartans guard Maurice Ager grabbed an offensive rebound and went up for what appeared at first to be an easy layup. In stepped Williams to block it. The ball ended up back in the hands of Ager, who launched a 3-pointer, and when it missed, Williams was there to grab the rebound.

Williams' two defensive stops would help result in a Rashad McCants trey on the other end to put the Tar Heels up 10 with 12:27 to go and send the Spartans retreating to their huddle for a timeout.

It was just three points, but it was the three points that seemed to put a fork in Michigan State's chances -- UNC would soon go on to extend its lead to 15 -- and Williams had a role in everything but the points themselves.

"That was a crucial defensive stop," Tar Heels assistant coach Steve Robinson said of Williams' plays. "It gave us momentum, and plays like that give us a lot of energy."

Williams, who had been hobbled recently by a hip injury and had just one double-digit scoring performance in his previous eight contests, finished 9-of-13 from the field and added eight rebounds.

Normally overshadowed by the Tar Heels' three high-profile juniors, not to mention a more highly touted Williams, super frosh Marvin, Williams still holds a special place in the hearts of Tar Heels fans. He's the most visible of three seniors who weathered UNC's 8-20 disaster as a freshman, and now, no matter what happens Monday night, he will always be remembered as the undisputed star of the school's first Final Four win in 12 years.

"Jawad is about winning," said head coach Roy Williams. "He's gone through a great deal of tough times ... when he's healthy, he's a big-time basketball player."

Player Who Impressed Me

Who didn't? Besides Williams, big man Sean May recovered from a 2-of-8, four-point first half to finish with 22 points, and point guard Raymond Felton ignited the Tar Heels' second-half surge.

However, there's no understating the back-breaking effect McCants has when he asserts himself. After a relatively quiet first half, in which he drew the ire of his coach for not being aggressive enough, he helped get things going in the second by following a May miss with a tip-in, then backing down Michigan State's Matt Trannon to put UNC up 41-40, and made countless other little plays by diving for loose balls, making outlet passes and playing physical defense. He finished with 17 points, six rebounds and four assists.

"He made some big baskets for us," said Roy Williams. "We tried to post him up a little bit more in the second half. I think he was able to score in there and get fouled."

Courtside Confidential

Michigan State's top scorer on the season, Alan Anderson, was held scoreless in 20 minutes. A knee injury sidelined him for two days of practice earlier in the season, and clearly he wasn't 100 percent. "He just did not have a great game," said Spartans coach Tom Izzo. "I think it was more what he did than what anybody else did [that contributed to the result]. We needed him because we thought that was the one X-factor for us." ... The viewing party is already planned: May, who received a DVD of his father Scott's 1976 national title win with Indiana for Christmas, says he will invite his teammates to watch the game Sunday night on teammate Wes Miller's computer. ... Monday night's game will be the first matchup of the No. 1 and 2 teams in the most recent AP poll since UCLA and Kentucky in 1975. ... How's this for Big Ten loyalty? Midway through the first half, an alternating "Go Green, go White" chant broke out -- with the Illinois fans providing the "Go Green" and Michigan State fans the "Go White." Late in the first game, Michigan State's band played the Illinois fight song. ...

Championship Formula

North Carolina, the way it played in the first half Saturday, the way it played for most of last Sunday's game against Wisconsin, will not beat Illinois in Monday night's title-game showdown. North Carolina, the way it played in the second half, could beat several NBA lottery teams.

The Illini are a phenomenal defensive team and are capable of taking the Tar Heels out of their fast-paced rhythm. But if UNC can force Illinois to miss shots -- particularly outside shots, of which the Illini have been taking a ton recently -- it will be hard to stop Felton and McCants on the break, not to mention May, who will have a tremendous advantage inside.

North Carolina is the more talented team, but the deciding factor Monday won't be physical -- it'll be mental.