2009 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 2
On the ensuing Magic possession, the Lakers played great defense and forced Courtney Lee to miss an awkward layup shot with 10.5 seconds left. With a chance to take a 2–0 series lead, Kobe Bryant was blocked on a jumper by Türkoğlu, who gained control of the ball and called time-out with 0.6 seconds left. After another timeout, Türkoğlu threw a half-court lob to Courtney Lee, who had come free after a screen on his defender. However, Lee was traveling too fast and launched his layup from almost behind the backboard, causing it to miss.


2009 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 2
With the Lakers up 1 in overtime with 1:55 left, Derek Fisher stole a JJ Redick pass and was fouled on the ensuing fast break, making both free throws. After the Magic were unable to convert, Kobe Bryant made a pivotal assist to Pau Gasol for a layup-and-one, giving the Lakers a 6-point lead and the eventual victory.


2009 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 3
The Magic came out in Game 3 with fire. The Magic shot a field goal percentage of 63% for the game, a Finals record. This also included a 75% first quarter, also a Finals record. However, despite the incredible shooting percentage, the Lakers managed to stay close for much of the game. The game was only sealed for the Magic on a Mickaël Piétrus steal from Kobe Bryant in the waning minute of the 4th quarter.


2009 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 3
This win marked the first Finals win in Magic franchise history, losing their first 6 Finals games (being swept in their first appearance and losing Games 1 and 2)


2009 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 4
Coming off their franchise's first NBA Finals game victory, the Magic quickly took the lead in the first quarter. However, Kobe Bryant kept the Lakers in the game, scoring 13 of the team's 20 first-quarter points. Dwight Howard played a great first quarter, with 11 rebounds and 4 blocks in the opening frame. In addition, he drew many fouls, putting Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol, and Lamar Odom in foul trouble and forcing Lakers coach Phil Jackson to use Josh Powell and D. J. Mbenga early in the game. The Magic were able to increase the lead to 12 at halftime.


2009 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 4
The Lakers came out of the locker room aggressive and outscored the Magic 30–14 in the 3rd quarter, led by Trevor Ariza, who scored 13 points in the quarter, including two three-pointers. Down by six in the opening minutes of the 4th quarter, the Magic took a 76–75 lead halfway through the quarter, but were unable to increase the lead due to poor free-throw shooting, specifically from Hedo Türkoğlu and Dwight Howard.


2009 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 4
With 3 minutes left in the 4th quarter and the game tied at 79, Howard converted a three-point play to give the Magic an 82–79 lead. On the next Laker possession, the Magic played good defense, but Trevor Ariza was able to hit a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to tie the game at 82. After Hedo Türkoğlu hit a stepback 3-point shot, Howard blocked Gasol's jumper, giving him a single-game NBA Finals record with 9 blocked shots. On the bench to witness it was a previous record holder, his assistant coach Patrick Ewing, who had 8 in Game 5 of the 1994 NBA Finals while with the New York Knicks. Türkoğlu made another jumper with 1:34 remaining to give the Magic a five-point lead.


2009 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 4
Down 87–82 with 31 seconds left, Kobe Bryant spun through the lane and passed to Gasol for a dunk to cut the lead to three. On the next Magic possession, Howard was fouled by Bryant with 11 seconds remaining. Needing just one free-throw to make the game a 2-possession affair, Howard missed both shots.


2009 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 4
Out of the timeout, the Lakers elected to take the ball out at three-quarters court instead of half-court in order to space out the floor. The Magic double-teamed Bryant in the backcourt, allowing him to pass the ball up to Ariza, who in turned passed it to Derek Fisher on the right wing. Having missed his first five three-point shots of the game, Fisher spotted up and hit a pivotal three-pointer over Jameer Nelson to tie the game at 87 with 4.6 seconds left. On the final possession of regulation, Mickaël Piétrus missed a 20-footer.


2009 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 4
The overtime session began with a three-pointer by Rashard Lewis and two contested jumpers by Kobe Bryant to give the Lakers a 91–90 lead. With 1:27 left in overtime, Howard split a pair of free throws to tie the game at 91. On the next possession, the Lakers would miss a layup and a jumper, but regained possession on an offensive rebound by Ariza and a loose-ball foul on Jameer Nelson. With 31 seconds left, Kobe Bryant passed out of a double-team and Fisher hit a three-pointer to give the Lakers a 94–91 lead.


2009 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 4
Out of a timeout, Türkoğlu rushed a three-point shot and missed. Rashard Lewis backtapped the rebound to center court, but the ball went to Pau Gasol, who ran in unimpeded for a dunk, giving the Lakers the lead for good. In the next possession, the Magic missed another shot, bouncing the ball to Fisher, who passed it to Ariza, then to Gasol for a dunk, but Pietrus slammed both arms on his back, resulting in Gasol getting a technical foul and Pietrus a flagrant-1 foul.


2009 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 4
Upon the game's finish, Oasis's "Don't Look Back in Anger" was played throughout Amway Arena.


2009 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 5
The Magic, facing the prospect of the Lakers winning a championship on their home floor, came out with a good start, leading by as much as 9 in the first quarter. In the opening frame, all 5 starters scored and assisted on at least one field goal, but the Lakers pulled within two at the quarter break. Down 40–36 with 7:11 in the 2nd quarter, the Lakers went on a 16–0 run, fueled by two 3-pointers and solid defensive play from Trevor Ariza. The Lakers led by as much as 12 in the 2nd quarter and the score was 56–46 at halftime.


2009 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 5
Coming out of the half, Orlando cut the lead to 5 with 7:45 remaining in the 3rd on a three-pointer by Rafer Alston. Lamar Odom answered with back-to-back three-pointers to restore the Laker lead to double digits. Leading by as much as 18 in the half, Los Angeles led by 15 going into the 4th quarter. In the final quarter, Orlando attempted a run but managed to cut the lead down to only 12; at the buzzer, the Lakers celebrated their 15th title.


2009 NBA Finals, Game summaries, Game 5
Following the game, NBA commissioner David Stern presented the Lakers with the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy and presented Kobe Bryant with the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Trophy during a presentation on center court at Amway Arena. Bryant averaged 32.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 7.4 assists per game during the series.


2009 NBA Finals, Statistics
The series was the third straight championship the Lakers clinched on the road (after 2001 and 2002); the last time the Lakers clinched the championship at home was in 2000. With their team's win, Pau Gasol became the first Spaniard and D. J. Mbenga the first Belgian Congolese player to win an NBA championship. Bill and Luke Walton became the third father-son pair to each win a championship as a player; the other father-son combinations are Matt Guokas, Sr. (1947) with Matt Jr. (1967) and Rick Barry (1975) with son Brent (2005 and 2007). Kobe Bryant averaged 32.4 points and 7.4 assists in this series, which was the best combination of those categories since Jerry West averaged 37.9 points and 7.4 assists (1969).


2009 NBA Finals, Statistics
For the Magic, Game 3 marked their first Finals game victory in franchise history after losing their first six Finals games, including being swept in their first Finals appearance in 1995. In Game 3, the Magic set the Finals record for the best field goal percentage with 63 percent, and the Finals record for best field goal percentage in the first half with 75 percent.


2009 NBA Finals, Statistics
This was the first NBA Finals series since 1984 to have two games go into overtime (Games 2 and 4); both were won by the Lakers. Dwight Howard set an NBA Finals single-game record with 9 blocked shots in Game 4.


2009 NBA Finals, Statistics
The previous record holders, all of whom had blocked eight shots in a Finals game, were: Bill Walton of the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 6 of the 1977 NBA Finals; Hakeem Olajuwon of the Houston Rockets in Game 5 of the 1986 NBA Finals; Howard's assistant coach Patrick Ewing of the New York Knicks in Game 5 of the 1994 NBA Finals; Shaquille O'Neal of the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 2 of the 2001 NBA Finals; and Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs in Game 6 of the 2003 NBA Finals.


2009 NBA Finals, Statistics
This was the seventh time in NBA Finals history that a team that lost the championship the previous season has won the Finals the very next year. It is the second time in Lakers history, after the 1984 and 1985 teams.


2009 NBA Finals, Statistics
This was also the first odd season since 2001 that the San Antonio Spurs did not win the NBA Finals; they won in 2003, 2005, and 2007.


2009 NBA Finals, Statistics
This was the last Finals in which a trophy silhouette was painted in mid-court. The tradition began in 2005 and ended for the 2010 series. This was also the last NBA Finals to be played at Amway Arena; the Magic moved to the Amway Center for the 2010–11 season.


2009 NBA Finals, International broadcasts
Aside from ABC (U.S.) and TSN (Canada), other broadcasters across the world covered the Finals:


2009 NBA Finals, Impact and aftermath, Lakers
The series win brought the Lakers' franchise championship total to 15, trailing only to the Boston Celtics. The championship was the fourth of the 2000s decade for the Lakers, most among all teams in the four major professional sports leagues in North America.


2009 NBA Finals, Impact and aftermath, Lakers
By virtue of their win this year and loss in the previous year, this marked tenth occurrence that the winners of the NBA Finals were losers in the preceding year's Finals, previously the Detroit Pistons had lost and won the Finals in 1988 and 1989 respectively. The victory was noted by many as a personal success for Finals MVP Kobe Bryant, winning his first championship and succeeding in the playoffs without the presence of former Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal where some people had previously speculated that Bryant could not "win one without Shaq".


2009 NBA Finals, Impact and aftermath, Lakers
Head coach Phil Jackson captured his 10th NBA championship as a coach, surpassing Red Auerbach for most championships all-time by an NBA coach. Jackson also passed Auerbach and NHL coach Scotty Bowman for most championships all-time by a head coach in a major American sports league. Having achieved three Game 1 victories throughout the postseason (first round vs. Utah, conference finals vs. Denver, and NBA Finals vs. Orlando), Phil Jackson-coached teams were now 44–0 in series where they win the first game, later improved to 48–0 by the time Jackson retired after the 2011 NBA Playoffs.


2009 NBA Finals, Impact and aftermath, Lakers
The Lakers' only offseason change was the acquisition of Ron Artest from the Houston Rockets, in an essential trade where they let Trevor Ariza sign with the Rockets. Again the Lakers won the top seed in the West, though winning just eight games less than the year before. They eliminated the Oklahoma City Thunder in six, the Utah Jazz in four, and the Phoenix Suns in six to return to the NBA Finals and renew their heated rivalry with the Celtics. In the Finals the Lakers won a hard-fought seven game series against the Celtics to retain the NBA title, becoming the first team to repeat as champions since the 2002 Lakers.


2009 NBA Finals, Impact and aftermath, Magic
The Magic again won 59 games and the division title in the 2009–10 season, in which they let go of Hedo Türkoğlu to the Toronto Raptors and acquired Vince Carter from the New Jersey Nets. Dwight Howard won Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight year. In the playoffs the Magic swept the Charlotte Bobcats and the Atlanta Hawks, becoming the first team in NBA history to win their first eight playoff games by 20 or more points.


2009 NBA Finals, Impact and aftermath, Magic
However, the Magic would lose to the Boston Celtics in six games of the Eastern Conference Finals, marking the final games held at Amway Arena. The Magic moved to the Amway Center the next season, then proceeded to lose in the first round for two straight years to the Hawks and the Indiana Pacers, respectively. After the 2011–12 season Stan Van Gundy was fired, and in a blockbuster offseason trade, Howard was traded to the Lakers, which he spent one season with the Lakers and later move to Houston Rockets. However, the team failed to reach NBA Finals due to the rise of the Golden State Warriors. Thus, Howard return to the Eastern Conference teams after signing with Atlanta Hawks.


2009 NBA draft
The 2009 NBA draft was held on June 25, 2009, at the WaMu Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In this draft, the National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players.


2009 NBA draft
The Los Angeles Clippers, who won the draft lottery on May 19, 2009, used their first overall draft pick to draft Blake Griffin from University of Oklahoma. However, he missed the entire 2009–10 season due to surgery on his broken left kneecap, which he injured during the pre-season. Tanzanian-born Hasheem Thabeet from University of Connecticut was drafted second by the Memphis Grizzlies. Thabeet became the first player born in Tanzania to be drafted by an NBA team. James Harden was drafted 3rd by the Oklahoma City Thunder.


2009 NBA draft
This made him the first player to be drafted by the franchise as the Oklahoma City Thunder; the franchise moved from Seattle to OKC in 2008. The Sacramento Kings drafted Tyreke Evans 4th; he was named 2009–10 NBA Rookie of the Year, after he became the fourth NBA player in history to average at least 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in his rookie season, joining the elite club of Oscar Robertson (1960), Michael Jordan (1984) and LeBron James (2003). Spanish teenager Ricky Rubio was drafted 5th by the Minnesota Timberwolves.


2009 NBA draft
Rubio became the fifth-highest-drafted international player who never played U.S. college basketball to be drafted in the NBA, tied with Nikoloz Tskitishvili (5th in 2002), and behind Yao Ming (1st in 2002), Andrea Bargnani (1st in 2006), Darko Miličić (2nd in 2003) and Pau Gasol (3rd in 2001). Twenty-third pick Omri Casspi became the first Israeli player to be drafted in the first round, and later he became the first Israeli to play in the NBA.


2009 NBA draft
The 2009 draft marked the first time three sons of former NBA players were selected in the top 15 picks of the draft. Stephen Curry, son of Dell Curry, was drafted 7th by the Golden State Warriors. Gerald Henderson Jr., son of Gerald Henderson, was drafted 12th by the Charlotte Bobcats. Austin Daye, son of Darren Daye, was drafted 15th by the Detroit Pistons. The draft also marked the first time a former high school player who skipped college to play professional basketball in Europe was selected in an NBA draft. Brandon Jennings, who skipped college to play professional basketball with Italian team Lottomatica Roma, was drafted 10th overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the draft.


2009 NBA draft
Of the 60 players drafted, four were freshmen, nine were sophomores, 12 were juniors, 22 were seniors, and 13 were international players without U.S. college basketball experience. The University of North Carolina's Tar Heels had the most players selected in the draft; three players were selected in the first round and one was selected in the second round. This marked the second time ever that four Tar Heels players were selected in the first two rounds of an NBA draft.


2009 NBA draft
The Minnesota Timberwolves had the league-high four first-round draft picks and the first time in team history that the team held two top-10 draft picks. The Timberwolves also had two second-round draft picks and became the team with the most draft picks in the 2009 draft with a total of six. The Houston Rockets and the Orlando Magic were the only NBA teams who did not have a draft pick this year, although Houston acquired three drafted players' rights after the draft.


2009 NBA draft
From the players in this draft, there have been six players selected as All-Stars; out of these six, Curry and Harden have both won the NBA's regular season MVP award.


2009 NBA draft, Draft
[ [ File:Tyreke Evans FT 2013-10-05.JPG|thumb|right|150px|Tyreke Evans was selected fourth by the Sacramento Kings. He won rookie of the year for the 2009-10 season. [ [ File:Stephen Curry Shooting (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|150px|Stephen Curry was selected seventh by the Golden State Warriors. He has established himself as an all-time great shooter, guiding the Warriors to 3 championships and winning back-to-back MVP's.] ]


2009 NBA draft, Draft
^ a: Nick Calathes was born in the United States, and has dual U.S. and Greek citizenship by birth. He has represented Greece internationally. ^ b: Goran Suton, who was born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, is also a naturalized citizen of the United States since 2006. ^ c: Emir Preldžič, who was born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also has Slovenian and Turkish citizenship. He had represented Slovenia internationally in 2008, before switching to Turkey. ^ d: Chinemelu Elonu was born in Nigeria, is also a naturalized citizen of the United States.


2009 NBA draft, Notable undrafted players
These players were not selected in the 2009 NBA draft but have played at least one game in the NBA.


2009 NBA draft, Eligibility
The CBA defines "international players" as players who permanently resided outside the U.S. for three years prior to the draft, did not complete high school in the U.S., and have never enrolled at a U.S. college or university.


2009 NBA draft, Eligibility
The basic requirement for automatic eligibility for a U.S. player is the completion of his college eligibility. Players who meet the CBA definition of "international players" are automatically eligible if their 22nd birthday falls during or before the calendar year of the draft (i.e., born on or before December 31, 1987). U.S. players who were at least one year removed from their high school graduation and have played professional basketball with a team outside the NBA were also automatically eligible. Former high school player Brandon Jennings meets these criteria, having graduated high school in 2008, skipped college basketball and then played professional basketball in Italy.


2009 NBA draft, Eligibility
A player who is not automatically eligible must declare his eligibility for the draft by notifying the NBA offices in writing no later than 60 days before the draft. For the 2009 draft, this date fell on April 26. An early entry candidate is allowed to withdraw his eligibility for the draft by notifying the NBA offices in writing no later than 10 days before the draft. This year, a total of 74 collegiate players and 29 international players declared as early entry candidates. At the withdrawal deadline, 55 early-entry candidates withdrew from the draft, leaving 39 collegiate players and 10 international players as the early-entry candidates for the draft.


2009 NBA draft, Eligibility
A player who has hired an agent will forfeit his remaining college eligibility, regardless of whether he is drafted. Also, while the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the league and its players' union allows a player to withdraw from the draft twice, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) mandates that a player who has declared twice loses his college eligibility. This second provision affected Chase Budinger, Wayne Ellington, and Ty Lawson, all of whom declared for and withdrew from the 2008 draft.


2009 NBA draft, Draft lottery
The lottery selection to determine the order of the top fourteen picks in the 2009 draft occurred on May 19, 2009. The Los Angeles Clippers won the first pick, while the Memphis Grizzlies and Oklahoma City Thunder moved up to second and third picks respectively. The Sacramento Kings and Washington Wizards, who had the two best chances to land a top-three pick, fell down to the fourth and fifth spots, the lowest possible picks they could be awarded through the lottery. The remaining first-round picks and all the second-round picks were assigned to teams in reverse order of their win-loss records in the previous season. As is commonplace in the event of identical win-loss records, the NBA performed a random drawing to break the ties on April 17, 2009.


2009 NBA draft, Draft lottery
Below were the chances for each team to get specific picks in the 2009 draft lottery, rounded to three decimal places:


2009 NBA draft, Draft lottery
^ 1: Washington Wizards' pick was later traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves.


2009 NBA draft, Trades involving draft picks, Pre-draft trades
Prior to the day of the draft, the following trades were made and resulted in exchanges of draft picks between the teams.


2009 NBA draft, Trades involving draft picks, Draft-day trades
The following trades involving drafted players were made on the day of the draft.


2009 NBA playoffs
The 2009 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2008–09 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeating the Eastern Conference champion Orlando Magic 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals. Kobe Bryant was named NBA Finals MVP.


2009 NBA playoffs
The Boston Celtics lost a best-of-7 series after leading 3–2 for the first time to the Magic in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Before that, their first round series with the Chicago Bulls set an NBA Playoff record for the most overtime games (4) and periods (7) played.


2009 NBA playoffs
The Houston Rockets won a first round series for the first time since 1997. They pushed the eventual champion Lakers to a Game 7 before losing. The Atlanta Hawks won a first round series for the first time since 1999, but were swept by the Cavs after enduring a tough 7-game series with the Miami Heat, who made the playoffs for the fifth time in 6 years. The Denver Nuggets won a playoff series for the first time since 1994, eventually reaching their first conference final since 1985.


2009 NBA playoffs
As for the Detroit Pistons and San Antonio Spurs, they failed to advance past the first round for the first time since 2000. The Pistons were swept by the Cavs, while the Spurs lost to the Dallas Mavericks 4–1.


2009 NBA playoffs
The Portland Trail Blazers made the playoffs for the first time since 2003, but for the fourth straight time, they were eliminated in the first round, courtesy of Houston in 6 games.


2009 NBA playoffs
The Cleveland Cavaliers became only the second team in NBA History (after the Miami Heat) to go 8–0 through the first two rounds by sweeping the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks (they would duplicate this feat in 2016, against the same two teams). However, they fell in 6 games to the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals.


2009 NBA playoffs, Format
The 3 division winners and 5 other teams with the most wins from each conference qualify for the playoffs. The seedings are based on each team's record; however, a division winner is guaranteed to be ranked at least 4th, regardless of record. All series are in a best-of-7 format with the Games 1–2, 5 and 7 on the home court of the team with the better record, regardless of their seed. For the NBA Finals, the team with the better record plays Games 1–2 and 6–7 at home.


2009 NBA playoffs, Format, Tiebreak procedures
If there are more than 2 teams tied, the team that wins the tiebreaker gets the highest seed, while the other teams are "re-broken" from the first step until all ties are resolved. Since the three division winners are guaranteed a spot in the top 4, ties to determine the division winners must be broken before any other ties.


2009 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (1) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (8) Detroit Pistons
This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with each team winning one series apiece.


2009 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (1) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (8) Detroit Pistons
The Cavaliers opened the series with a rout on Game 1, as LeBron James scored 38 points and the Cavaliers won by 18 points. In Game 2, the Cavaliers were leading by 27 points after the third quarter before the Pistons started a comeback in the fourth quarter. The Pistons managed to cut the Cavaliers' lead down to 7 points, but in the end the Cavaliers won the game by 12 points. Game 3 was a tight contest until an 18–2 run by the Cavaliers in the fourth quarter secured the victory for Cleveland. The Cavaliers swept the Pistons with a 21-point victory in Game 4, in which James scored 36 points while narrowly missing a triple-double for two straight games.


2009 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (2) Boston Celtics vs. (7) Chicago Bulls
This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning the first three meetings.


2009 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (2) Boston Celtics vs. (7) Chicago Bulls
In Game 1, with the Bulls trailing by 1, rookie Derrick Rose hit 2 free throws with 9.6 seconds left. Celtics captain Paul Pierce had a chance to win the game with his own free throws from a Joakim Noah foul but missed the second, leading to overtime. In the overtime, with Rose fouling out, Tyrus Thomas scored six of the Bulls' eight points to put them up 105–103 with about 50 seconds left. Ray Allen, who had a poor shooting night, had a chance to tie the game and send it into a second overtime but he did not succeed. Even while the playoffs were continuing, many experts and analysts were calling it "the greatest playoff series ever".


2009 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (2) Boston Celtics vs. (7) Chicago Bulls
Rose matched Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's playoff debut of 36 points to lead the Bulls into a Game 1 road victory. Rose also became the second player to have a 35-point, 10-assist game in their playoff debut in history, after Chris Paul did the feat in 2008; his 36 points was also the highest points scored by a Bull in a playoff game since Michael Jordan retired. The win also marked the Bulls' first postseason win against the Celtics in history.


2009 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (2) Boston Celtics vs. (7) Chicago Bulls
In Game 2, Ben Gordon poured in 42 points, but lost the duel to Ray Allen. The Bulls were blown out in Game 3. At home in the end of regulation of Game 4, Gordon hit a big bank shot putting the Bulls up 95-93. The Bulls would go on to win in 2OT.


2009 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (2) Boston Celtics vs. (7) Chicago Bulls
The Bulls held a double digit lead, and Boston came back behind Paul Pierce. Gordon hit a tough shot over Stephon Marbury. Pierce tied with his own jumper, Brad Miller missed 2 free throws with 2 seconds remaining in overtime, and Boston won.


2009 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (2) Boston Celtics vs. (7) Chicago Bulls
The Bulls had to come back from being down 8 in the final 2 minutes of regulation, and did so behind John Salmons. Ray Allen scored 51 points, but the Bulls won in 3OT.


2009 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (2) Boston Celtics vs. (7) Chicago Bulls
The Celtics finished the Bulls off with a 10-point victory.


2009 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (3) Orlando Magic vs. (6) Philadelphia 76ers
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the 76ers winning the first meeting.


2009 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (3) Orlando Magic vs. (6) Philadelphia 76ers
In Game 1, the Magic had an 18-point lead in the fourth quarter and Andre Iguodala scored a jumper with 2.2 seconds remaining to give the Sixers a road win over Hedo Türkoğlu. The Sixers almost managed another comeback in Game 2. The Magic led by 18 points midway through the third quarter before another late run by the Sixers brought the lead down to 5 points before the Magic finally won the game.


2009 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (3) Orlando Magic vs. (6) Philadelphia 76ers
The Sixers won Game 3 courtesy of another late shot; Thaddeus Young scored a layup with 2 seconds left to secure the win, despite a career playoff-high 36-point performance by Dwight Howard. The Magic secured a road win in Game 4 with their own late shot; Türkoğlu scored his own game-winning three-pointer with 1.1 seconds left to even the series.


2009 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (3) Orlando Magic vs. (6) Philadelphia 76ers
In Game 5, Dwight Howard had 24 points and a career playoff-high 24 rebounds, leading the Magic to a victory. Game 5 was marked with an elbowing incident by Howard on Samuel Dalembert, which led to a one-game suspension for Howard. Rookie Courtney Lee also went down injured after taking an inadvertent elbow on the head from Howard. Despite losing two starters, Howard and Lee, the Magic won game 6, beating the Sixers on the road by 25 points to win the series.


2009 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (4) Atlanta Hawks vs. (5) Miami Heat
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Hawks winning the first meeting.


2009 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (4) Atlanta Hawks vs. (5) Miami Heat
The Hawks opened the series with a 26-point win after leading by as much as 20 points at halftime. The Hawks also tied a franchise record for fewest points allowed in a playoff game. However, the Heat managed to rebound from the loss and won Game 2 on the road to tie the series. The Heat won Game 3 at home, almost in similar fashion as the Hawks' victory in Game 1. The Heat was already leading by 19 points at halftime and ended up winning by 29 points. In the next game, the Hawks bounced back and won a road game to even the series.


2009 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (4) Atlanta Hawks vs. (5) Miami Heat
Game 5 was marked by several hard fouls and technical fouls. Dwyane Wade was fouled and sent tumbling down by Solomon Jones before a skirmish between Wade, Jones, Jamaal Magloire and Josh Smith started. All four players were given technical fouls in the incident. Wade was later called for a flagrant foul after he fouled Maurice Evans during a layup attempt. The flagrant foul was later rescinded by the officials after they reviewed the play. The Hawks finally won the game, despite losing starting center Al Horford due to injury in the second quarter.


2009 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (4) Atlanta Hawks vs. (5) Miami Heat
The Heat evened the series at 3–3 after winning Game 6. Wade scored 41 points to lead the Heat to a 26-point rout over the Hawks. The Hawks finally won the series after winning Game 7 at home, with 13 points difference. All seven games of the series were decided by at least 10 points, with an average margin of 19 points.


2009 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (8) Utah Jazz
This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with each team winning two series apiece.


2009 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (2) Denver Nuggets vs. (7) New Orleans Hornets
This was the first playoff meeting between the Nuggets and the New Orleans Pelicans/Hornets franchise.


2009 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (2) Denver Nuggets vs. (7) New Orleans Hornets
The Nuggets routed the Hornets in Game 1, led by hometown player Chauncey Billups's 36 points in his playoff debut for the Nuggets. He sank a career playoff-high 8 three-pointers and added 8 assists in the game. He continued his form in Game 2, scoring 31 points as the Nuggets took a 2–0 lead in the series.


2009 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (2) Denver Nuggets vs. (7) New Orleans Hornets
The Hornets bounced back with a victory in Game 3. Game 3 was marked with plenty of fouls, with a total of 58 personal fouls in the game, resulting in four players fouling out of the game, David West and Tyson Chandler for the Hornets, and Kenyon Martin and Nenê for the Nuggets. The referees also called three flagrant fouls from James Posey, Chandler and Billups. Hornets' head coach Byron Scott was also called for a technical foul after arguing on Posey's flagrant foul.


2009 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (2) Denver Nuggets vs. (7) New Orleans Hornets
The Nuggets then pulled a 58-point win in Game 4. The margin tied the most lopsided victory in playoff history set 53 years ago by the Minneapolis Lakers. The Hornets recorded a playoff-low in points and also a playoff-high 26 turnovers, which led to 41 Nuggets' points. The Nuggets then recorded their first series win since 1994 after a victory in Game 5. Carmelo Anthony scored his career playoff-high with 34 points as the Nuggets cruised to another double-digit win. The average margin of victory in the Nuggets's four wins was 30.75 points.


2009 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (3) San Antonio Spurs vs. (6) Dallas Mavericks
This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Spurs winning two of the first three meetings.


2009 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (4) Portland Trail Blazers vs. (5) Houston Rockets
This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Rockets winning the first two meetings.


2009 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Eastern Conference Semifinals, (1) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (4) Atlanta Hawks
This was the first playoff meeting between the Hawks and the Cavaliers.


2009 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Eastern Conference Semifinals, (2) Boston Celtics vs. (3) Orlando Magic
This was the first time the Celtics lost a series when leading 3–2.


2009 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Eastern Conference Semifinals, (2) Boston Celtics vs. (3) Orlando Magic
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Magic winning the first meeting.


2009 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Western Conference Semifinals, (1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (5) Houston Rockets
This was the eighth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning four of the first seven meetings.


2009 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Western Conference Semifinals, (2) Denver Nuggets vs. (6) Dallas Mavericks
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Mavericks winning the first meeting.


2009 NBA playoffs, Conference Finals, Eastern Conference Finals, (1) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (3) Orlando Magic
This was the first playoff meeting between the Cavaliers and the Magic.


2009 NBA playoffs, Conference Finals, Eastern Conference Finals, (1) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (3) Orlando Magic
In Game 1, LeBron James dominated with a 49-point performance, while Howard had 30. Early in the game, Howard made a thunderous jam that caused the shot clock to fall backwards. Although James had a potential game-winning three-point play, a furious rally and a game-winning three-pointer by Rashard Lewis allowed the Magic to escape with a victory in game 1. Much like Game 1, Game 2 had the Cavs with an 18-point lead by the second quarter, only for the Magic to rally back in the closing minutes.


2009 NBA playoffs, Conference Finals, Eastern Conference Finals, (1) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (3) Orlando Magic
A jump shot by Hedo Türkoğlu gave the Magic a 2-point lead with 1 second left on the clock, but LeBron James hit a three-pointer to tie the series at the buzzer. In Game 3, the Magic dominated at home, leading to a 10-point victory behind Dwight Howard's 24 points. In Game 4, two clutch free throws by LeBron James sent the game into overtime. While James dominated with 44 (his third 40-point game of the playoffs), an off half-court shot allowed the Magic to escape again with a victory. Down 3–1, James' triple-double allowed his team to stave off elimination in Game 5. After a win in Game 6, the Magic received their second NBA Finals berth in franchise history.


2009 NBA playoffs, Conference Finals, Western Conference Finals, (1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (2) Denver Nuggets
This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning the first four meetings.


2009 NBA playoffs, NBA Finals: (W1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (E3) Orlando Magic
This was the first playoff meeting between the Lakers and the Magic.


2009 NBB season
Novo Basquete Brasil (NBB) is the Brazilian basketball league, created in 2008 as the new format to the Campeonato Brasileiro de Basquete. NBB is fully organized by the participating clubs, as an attempt to reorganize and rebuild the Brazilian basketball. The form of dispute follows a similar model adopted by the NBA and European countries. The first edition was disputed by fifteen teams playing each other in the round and second round at the classification stage. At the end of two rounds, the top eight teams qualify for the playoffs in best of five matches, advances to the next phase who win three games.


2009 NC State Wolfpack football team
The 2009 NC State Wolfpack football team represented North Carolina State University in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team's head coach was Tom O'Brien. It was O'Brien's third season as NC State's head coach. The Wolfpack played their home games at Carter–Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Wolfpack finished the season 5–7, 2–6 in ACC play and failed to qualify for a bowl game.


2009 NC State Wolfpack football team, Preseason
On June 27, linebacker Nate Irving was seriously injured in an automobile accident and will not play for the 2009 season, as he suffered a compound fracture in his leg and a collapsed lung.


2009 NC State Wolfpack football team, Coaching staff
After not traveling with the team to Blacksburg, Virginia for the Virginia Tech game, it was announced that offensive coordinator Dana Bible had been diagnosed with leukemia.


2009 NCAA Bowling Championship
The 2009 NCAA Bowling Championship was the sixth annual tournament to determine the national champion of women's NCAA collegiate ten-pin bowling. The tournament was played at Super Bowl Lanes in Canton, Michigan during April 2009.


2009 NCAA Bowling Championship
Nebraska defeated Central Missouri in the championship match, 4 games to 1, to win their third national title.


2009 NCAA Bowling Championship, Qualification
Since there is only one national collegiate championship for women's bowling, all NCAA bowling programs (whether from Division I, Division II, or Division III) were eligible. A total of 8 teams were invited to contest this championship, which consisted of a modified double-elimination style tournament.


2009 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament
The 2009 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament was held from May 29 through June 24, 2009 and is part of the 2009 NCAA Division I baseball season. The 64 NCAA Division I college baseball teams were selected out of an eligible 286 teams on May 25, 2009. Thirty teams were awarded an automatic bid as champions of their conference, and 34 teams were selected at-large by the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee.


2009 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament
The 2009 tournament culminated with 8 teams advancing to the College World Series at historic Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska beginning on June 13.


2009 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, Bids, Automatic bids
Conference champions from 30 Division I conferences earned automatic bids to regionals. The remaining 34 spots were awarded to schools as at-large invitees.


2009 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, Regionals and Super Regionals, Regional schedule
Regional rounds were held Friday, May 29 through Monday, June 1. Each regional followed a double elimination format, with 2 games each played on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and one on Monday when needed.


2009 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, Regionals and Super Regionals, Super Regional Schedule
Best-of-three super regionals were held Friday, June 5 through Monday, June 8. Four series were played Friday-Sunday and four series were played Saturday-Monday with the final day in each grouping if necessary.


2009 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, Record by conference
The columns RF, SR, WS, NS, CS, and NC respectively stand for the Regional Finals, Super Regionals, College World Series, National Semifinals, Championship Series, and National Champion.


2009 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships
The 2009 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships were the 71st annual NCAA Men's Division I Cross Country Championship and the 29th annual NCAA Women's Division I Cross Country Championship to determine the team and individual national champions of NCAA Division I men's and women's collegiate cross country running in the United States. In all, four different titles were contested: men's and women's individual and team championships.


2009 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships
Held on November 23, 2009, the combined meet was the sixth of eight consecutive meets hosted by Indiana State University at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Indiana. The distance for the men's race was 10 kilometers (6.21 miles) while the distance for the women's race was 6 kilometers (3.73 miles).


2009 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships
The men's team championship was won by Oklahoma State (127 points), the Cowboys' second overall and first since 1954. The women's team championship was won by Villanova (79 points), the Wildcats' eighth overall and first since 1998.


2009 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships
The two individual champions were, for the men, Samuel Chelanga (Liberty, 28:41.3) and, for the women, Angela Bizzarri (Illinois, 19:46.8).


2009 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings
Three human polls and one formula ranking make up the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) football rankings, in addition to various publications' preseason polls. Unlike most sports, college football's governing body, the NCAA, does not bestow a national championship title. That title is bestowed by one or more of four different polling agencies. There are two main weekly polls that begin in the preseason: the AP Poll and the Coaches' Poll.


2009 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings
Two additional polls are released midway through the season; the Harris Interactive Poll is released after the fourth week of the season and the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Standings is released after the seventh week. The Harris Poll and Coaches Poll are factors in the BCS Standings. At the end of the season, on Sunday, December 6, 2009, the BCS Standings determines who plays in the BCS bowl games as well as the 2010 BCS National Championship Game on January 7, 2010 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA.


2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season
The 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).


2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season
The regular season began on September 3, 2009 and ended on December 12, 2009. The postseason concluded on January 7, 2010 with the BCS National Championship Game in Pasadena, California, where the Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the Texas Longhorns by the score of 37–21.


2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season
For the first time in the history of the Heisman Trophy, the annual award for the most outstanding player in college football, two previous Heisman winners played in the same season—2008 winner Sam Bradford of Oklahoma and 2007 winner Tim Tebow of Florida. For the first time since 1946, the top three vote-getters from the previous season all returned: Bradford, Colt McCoy of Texas, and Tebow, in that order. Six teams finished the regular season undefeated; a record for the BCS era.


2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Rule changes
The NCAA football rules committee proposed several rule changes for 2009. The rule changes include the following:


2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Conference changes
Western Kentucky joined the Sun Belt Conference after playing the 2008 as an FBS independent, completing their two-year transition from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). The number of full FBS members increased to 120.


2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Regular season top 10 matchups
Rankings reflect the AP Poll. Rankings for Week 8 and beyond will list BCS Rankings first and AP Poll second. Teams that failed to be a top 10 team for one poll or the other will be noted.


2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Conference summaries
Rankings reflect the Week 14 AP Poll before the conference championship games were played.


2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Conference summaries
For the first time since 1983, every conference in Division I FBS, even those that did not contest a championship game, had an undisputed champion.


2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Conference summaries
* In July 2011, the NCAA released its findings from a two-year investigation into allegations that a Georgia Tech player received $321 in clothing from a runner for an agent. While no conclusive evidence was brought against the player, actions taken by the Georgia Tech athletic department were perceived as an attempt to hinder the NCAA investigation into this offense. The NCAA determined that the player should have been declared ineligible for the final three games of the 2009 season. As punishment for an accused "lack of cooperation" and hindering the investigation, Georgia Tech was required to vacate the ACC Championship Game win, along with other penalties. Consequently, there is currently no official 2009 ACC football champion.


2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Bowl games, Bowl Challenge Cup standings
* Does not meet minimum game requirement of three teams needed for a conference to be eligible. (In any case, "Independent" is not a conference, rather, it is the lack of one.)


2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Awards and honors, Heisman Trophy voting
The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player


2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Coaching changes, Postseason
On December 26, Florida head coach Urban Meyer announced his resignation due to health concerns, effective after the Gators' Sugar Bowl appearance. However, Meyer had a change of heart and announced the following day  that he would instead take an indefinite leave of absence, and expected to be back coaching by the start of the 2010 season. Offensive coordinator Steve Addazio took over Meyer's duties in his absence. Meyer returned from his self-imposed leave in time for Florida's 2010 spring practice.


2009 NCAA Division I FCS football rankings
The 2009 NCAA Division I FCS football rankings are from the Sports Network media poll and the coaches poll. This is for the 2009 season.


2009 NCAA Division I FCS football season
The 2009 NCAA Division I FCS football season, the 2009 season of college football for teams in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), began in August 2009 and concluded with the 2009 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game on December 18, 2009, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, won by Villanova 23–21 over Montana.


2009 NCAA Division I FCS football season, Rule changes for 2009
The NCAA football rules committee proposed several rule changes for 2009. Before these rules were officially adopted, the proposals had to be approved by the Playing Rules Oversight Panel. The rule changes include the following:


2009 NCAA Division I FCS football season, FCS team wins over FBS teams
In the 2009 season, FCS teams played a total of 91 games against FBS opponents. Notably, four of the five victorious FCS teams—all except Central Arkansas—were members of the Colonial Athletic Association. All four made that season's playoffs and advanced to the quarterfinals. Richmond lost in that round to Appalachian State, while Villanova defeated both New Hampshire (quarterfinals) and William & Mary (semifinals) on its way to the national title.


2009 NCAA Division I FCS football season, Conference and program changes, Dropped programs
After Northeastern's final game of the season, a 33–27 win over Rhode Island on November 21, the school announced that it was dropping the football program. The Huskies ended their 74th season with a 3–8 record, but school officials cited that losing seasons were not the determining factor.


2009 NCAA Division I FCS football season, Conference and program changes, Dropped programs
On December 3, Hofstra also announced that it was dropping their football program in favor of academic funding. The football team, which finished the season 5–6 after a 52–38 win over Massachusetts, ended their program after 73 years.


2009 NCAA Division I FCS football season, Conference and program changes, Dropped programs
The Colonial Athletic Association, where both teams played, decided to replace the two teams with new programs at Old Dominion and Georgia State in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Old Dominion started its program during the 2009 season;  Georgia State started theirs in 2010.


2009 NCAA Division I FCS football season, Eastern Illinois coach's death
On Saturday, November 28, just hours after Eastern Illinois lost to Southern Illinois 48–7 in the first round of the FCS playoffs, Eastern Illinois' offensive coordinator Jeffrey O. Hoover, age 41, was killed in a car accident. The single-vehicle accident occurred south of Effingham when Hoover, his family and EIU strength coach Eric Cash struck a deer while driving home from Carbondale, the home of SIU.


2009 NCAA Division I FCS football season, Eastern Illinois coach's death
Hoover's death was the second Eastern Illinois coaching death within a month. On November 4, women's basketball assistant coach Jackie Moore, 28, died after collapsing during a workout on campus.


2009 NCAA Division I FCS football season, Conference champions, Invitation
In order to be eligible for the playoffs, these teams must have a minimum of eight Division I wins, with at least two against teams in automatic bid conferences. They also must be ranked an average of 16 or better in the national rankings, made up of the following components:


2009 NCAA Division I FCS football season, Conference champions, Invitation
No team in the invitational conferences qualified. Starting in 2010, the Big South and NEC will become automatic bid conferences with the expansion of the playoff field to 20 teams.


2009 NCAA Division I FCS football season, Postseason, Gridiron Classic
The Gridiron Classic is an annual game between the champions of the Northeast Conference and the Pioneer Football League that has been held since December 2006.


2009 NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship
The 2009 NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship was the 29th women's collegiate field hockey tournament organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, to determine the top college field hockey team in the United States. The North Carolina Tar Heels field hockey won their sixth championship, defeating the Maryland Terrapins in the final. The semifinals and championship were hosted by Wake Forest University at Kentner Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.


2009 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game
The 2009 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game between the Villanova Wildcats and the Montana Grizzlies. It was played on December 18, 2009, at Finley Stadium, home field of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The culminating game of the 2009 NCAA Division I FCS football season, it was won by Villanova, 23–21.


2009 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game, Teams
The participants of the Championship Game were the finalists of the 2009 FCS Playoffs, which began with a 16-team bracket.


2009 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game, Teams, Montana Grizzlies
Montana finished their regular season with an 11–0 record (8–0 in conference). As the first-seed in the tournament, the Grizzlies defeated South Dakota State, Stephen F. Austin, and Appalachian State to reach the final. This was Montana's second consecutive and seventh overall appearance in an FCS/Division I-AA championship game, having previously won in 1995 and 2001, and having lost in 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008.


2009 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game, Teams, Villanova Wildcats
Villanova finished their regular season with a 10–1 record (7–1 in conference). As the second-seed in the tournament, the Wildcats defeated Holy Cross, New Hampshire (who had given Villanova their only loss during the regular season), and William & Mary to reach the final. This was Villanova's first appearance in an FCS/Division I-AA championship game.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game
The 2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game was the final game of the 2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament and determined the National Champion for the 2008-09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The game was played on April 6, 2009 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan as the final game of the Final Four. The game was played between the South Regional Champions, No. 1-seeded North Carolina, and the Midwest Regional Champions, No. 2-seeded Michigan State. The Tar Heels defeated the Spartans 89–72.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game
This game was a rematch of Basketbowl II of the 2008 ACC-Big Ten Challenge which was also played at Ford Field in which North Carolina also dominated Michigan State with a 98–63 victory.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Participants, Michigan State
In their first game of the Tournament, Raymar Morgan scored 16 points to help the Spartans defeat Robert Morris 77–62. In the Second round of the Tournament, Travis Walton scored a career-high 18 points to help beat USC 74–69 and advance to the Sweet Sixteen. In the Sweet Sixteen, Michigan State came back from a 36–29 deficit at halftime and Kalin Lucas scored seven points during the final 49 seconds including making five straight free throws to beat Kansas 67–62 and advance to the Elite Eight.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Participants, Michigan State
In the Elite Eight, the Spartans dominated No. 1-seeded Louisville, holding them to their second lowest point total of the season (52), only one shot in the final 5:18, and just 38.3 percent shooting in a 64–52 win. In the Final Four, Kalin Lucas scored 21 points and Raymar Morgan scored 18 points as Michigan State controlled the tempo of play with solid all-around play holding Connecticut to only 18 mid-range shots or 3-pointers only making three of those as Michigan State beat Connecticut 82–73.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Participants, Michigan State
Michigan State was the first team since Duke in 1994 to play the national championship game in their home state.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Participants, North Carolina
North Carolina got off to a hot start in the Tournament as Tyler Hansbrough scored 22 points to become the leading scorer in ACC history and Wayne Ellington scored 25 points to lead North Carolina to a 101–58 dominating win over Radford. In the Second round, Ty Lawson scored 23 points (21 of them coming in the second half) and once the game was tied at 63–63, North Carolina finished off with a 21–7 run to beat LSU 84–70.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Participants, North Carolina
In the Sweet Sixteen, North Carolina went 11–19 on three-pointers while Tyler Hansbrough had a double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds and Ty Lawson scored 19 points (17 in the first half) and had nine assists and one turnover as North Carolina defeated Gonzaga 98–77. In the Elite Eight, Ty Lawson led North Carolina with 19 points to beat Oklahoma 72–60 and advance to the Final Four.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Participants, North Carolina
In the Final Four, Tyler Hansbrough had a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds which made him the sixth leading scorer in NCAA Tournament history and in addition, Ty Lawson scored 22 points and Wayne Ellington scored 20 points to beat Villanova 83–69 to advance to the National Championship Game.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Participants, North Carolina
North Carolina was the third team since 1985 to advance to the National Championship game having won their previous five tournament games by 10 points or more. The other two teams were Duke in 2001 as they beat Arizona by 10 in the 2001 National Championship Game and Michigan State in 2000 as they beat Florida by 13 in the 2000 National Championship Game.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Starting lineups
Selected in an NBA Draft   (number corresponds to draft round)


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Game Summary
North Carolina got hot early during the 2009 National Championship Game,  as they got off to a 34–11 lead with 9:46 remaining in the 1st half. North Carolina kept their dominance going as they had a 55–34 lead at halftime, which marks the largest halftime lead in NCAA Tournament History and the most points scored in the 1st half in NCAA Tournament History. The game was over before it began as North Carolina had a 17–7 lead with 15:35 remaining in the 1st half, and the game never got closer. North Carolina won the game 89–72, as Tyler Hansbrough's 18 points, Wayne Ellington's 19 points, and Ty Lawson's 21 points all led to the rout of Michigan State to win the national championship.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Game Summary
By beating Michigan State by 17, North Carolina became the 1st team since Duke in 2001 to win all their NCAA Tournament games by double digits. Also, their +121 point differential during the 2009 NCAA Tournament was the 2nd highest in Tournament History since 1985 trailing Kentucky who had a +129 point differential during the 1996 NCAA Tournament.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament was a single-elimination tournament in which 65 schools competed to determine the national champion of the men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2008–09 basketball season. The tournament began on March 17, 2009, and concluded with the championship game on April 6 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan, where the University of North Carolina defeated Michigan State to become the champion.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2009 tournament marked the first time for a Final Four having a minimum seating capacity of 70,000 and by having most of the tournament in the February Sweeps of the Nielsen Ratings due to the digital television transition in the United States on June 12, 2009, which also made this the last NCAA Basketball Tournament, in all three divisions, to air in analog television. The University of Detroit Mercy hosted the Final Four, which was the 71st edition.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
Prior to the start of the tournament, the top ranked team was Louisville in both the AP Top 25 and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Polls, followed by North Carolina, Memphis, and Pittsburgh. Only the Tar Heels of North Carolina were the regional winners and played in the Final Four. The Tar Heels completed one of the most dominant runs in the tournament's history by winning each of their games by at least twelve points.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
For the first time since seeding began, all #1–#3 seeds made it into the Sweet 16, and for the third consecutive time, all #1 seeds made the Elite Eight.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
Four schools made their NCAA tournament debut, all respective conference champions: Binghamton (America East), Morgan State (MEAC), Stephen F. Austin (Southland), and North Dakota State (Summit), a school in its first season of Division I eligibility.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Tournament procedure
Sixty-five teams were selected for the tournament. Thirty of the teams earned automatic bids by winning their conference tournaments. The automatic bid of the Ivy League, which does not conduct a postseason tournament, went to Cornell, its regular season champion. The remaining 34 teams were granted "at-large" bids by the NCAA Selection Committee.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Tournament procedure
Two teams play an opening-round game, popularly called the "play-in game". The winner of that game advances to the main draw of the tournament as a 16 seed and plays a top seed in one of the regionals. The 2009 game was played on Tuesday, March 17, at the University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio, as it has since its inception in 2001.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Tournament procedure
All 64 teams were seeded 1 to 16 within their regions; the winner of the play-in game automatically received a 16 seed. The Selection Committee seeded the entire field from 1 to 65. SEC commissioner Michael Slive served his last year as chairman of the committee.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Schedule and venues
The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 2009 tournament:


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Schedule and venues
Detroit was the 28th new host city, and Ford Field the 35th new venue, to host the Final Four. The tournament featured six new stadiums, including two domed stadiums. The Phoenix suburb of Glendale was host for the first time, with games being held at the University of Phoenix Stadium, home to football's Arizona Cardinals. Indianapolis also hosted at a new domed stadium, Lucas Oil Stadium, the replacement for the RCA Dome. After an eight-year hiatus, the tournament returned to Memphis at the FedExForum, the third venue in the city to host the tournament.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Schedule and venues
Kansas City also introduced a new arena, the Sprint Center, after the previous eight appearances at Kemper Arena. For only the second time, the city of Miami hosted games, this time at the American Airlines Arena, home to the NBA's Miami Heat. And for the first time since 1975, the tournament returned to Portland, at the Rose Garden. This was the last tournament to feature the Metrodome, which closed in early 2014, and was replaced with U.S. Bank Stadium, hosted the 2019 Final Four.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Midwest Region
Goran Suton of Michigan State was the Midwest regional most outstanding player. He was joined by Spartan teammates Kalin Lucas and Travis Walton, Louisville's Earl Clark and Kansas's Cole Aldrich on the NCAA Tournament All-Midwest Regional team.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Midwest Region, First round
To play the top-seeded Louisville Cardinals in the first round, Morehead State defeated Alabama State 58–43, with the Eagles keeping the Hornets without a lead the entire game. This marked the first time either team had played in the tournament in five years; the Eagles had not played since 1984. Morehead State fell to Louisville 74–54, the 100th time a 1 seed beat a 16 seed in the tournament since seeding began. However, the Eagles managed to keep the game close until halftime, when Louisville led by only 2 points.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Midwest Region, First round
In the second half, the Cardinals began to apply their signature fullcourt pressure, forcing turnovers and outscoring Morehead State 22–6 at the beginning of the half. Leon Buchanan's 17 points for the Eagles were not enough to upset Louisville, whose top scorers, Samardo Samuels and Terrence Williams, scored a combined 28 points. Morehead State has not beaten Louisville in 52 years until 2011.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Midwest Region, First round
In two overtimes, the Siena Saints beat the Ohio State Buckeyes 74–72. Ohio State had the advantage of playing an hour from their campus, and received 25 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists from Evan Turner. The Saints made 6 out of 23 3-pointers and had 22 turnovers. Accordingly, Siena trailed for most of the game, but scored the last four points in regulation to force overtime. At the end of the first overtime, Siena's Ronald Moore drained his first 3-pointer to force a second overtime.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Midwest Region, First round
With 3.9 seconds left in that overtime, he hit a second three from the same location to give the Saints a late 2-point lead. In an attempt to send the game into a third overtime, Turner shot a 15-footer immediately afterwards, but he missed it. This was Siena's fifth appearance in the tournament, after beating Vanderbilt University in 2008 as a 13 seed.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Midwest Region, First round
The Arizona-Utah matchup was not as close. The Fifth-seeded Utah Utes were upset by the twelfth-seeded Arizona Wildcats, one of the last teams to make it in the tournament and a questionable entry, by a score of 84–71. The Utes closed the lead to two with roughly five minutes left in the game, but the Wildcats' answer was a 10–1 run. Utah's Luke Nevill committed two fouls less than four minutes into the game and scored only 12 points. Nic Wise of Arizona, meanwhile, led the team with 29 points, with 21 in the second half. Tyler Kepkay led the Utes with a team 19 points in his embarking performance.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Midwest Region, First round
The Cleveland State-Wake Forest game was an even larger upset. In their second bid in the tournament, the Cleveland State Vikings shocked the Wake Forest Demon Deacons 84–69. This 15-point win ties for third-greatest victory margin for a 13 seed over a 4 seed. Wake Forest, once ranked first in the country, had 16 turnovers in the matchup, compared to six for the Vikings. James Johnson of the Demon Deacons scored 22 points, although this could not compensate for a substandard offense. Their scoring leader, Jeff Teague, finished with 10 points, half his average. For these reasons, Wake Forest never obtained a lead, while Cleveland State sank three consecutive 3-pointers in the early minutes of the game.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Midwest Region, First round
For the first time in 19 years, Dayton advanced to the second round of the tournament with a win over West Virginia 68–60. This also ended West Virginia's first-round winning streak, which had lasted since 1992. Chris Wright led the Dayton Flyers with 27 points, a career high, while also chalking up 10 rebounds. Charles Little also aided the Flyers with 18 points. Darryl Bryant, who led West Virginia with 21 points, shot two consecutive three-pointers to bring Dayton's lead to 48–47 with 11:02 minutes left in the game. However, that was the closest the Mountaineers had to a lead outside the beginning of the game.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Midwest Region, First round
In their first eligible year, North Dakota State appeared in the tournament, facing defending champion Kansas. The three-seeded Kansas Jayhawks staved off the fourteenth-seeded Bison's upset bid with an 84–74 victory. Ben Woodside shined with 37 points for the Bison, his sixth game of the season with at least 30 points. However, Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich proved too much for North Dakota State, accounting for 65 percent of the Jayhawks' points with 32 and 23 respectively.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Midwest Region, First round
The tenth-seeded USC Trojans demolished the seventh-seeded Boston College Eagles by a score of 72–55, helped by Taj Gibson's 10-for-10 shooting from the field, tied for the second-best NCAA tournament field-goal shooting performance in history. He led the team with 24 points and recorded six rebounds, five assists, and three blocks. Dwight Lewis also added 20 points for the Trojans. After leading 34–30 at halftime, the Eagles scored just a single field goal during one 13-minute stretch, as part of a 23.1 shooting percentage in the second half.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Midwest Region, First round
Robert Morris, the region's 15 seed, was blown away by second-seeded Michigan State 77–62. The game was tied with 4:44 left in the first half, but then the Colonials went almost 20 minutes without scoring a single point. The Spartans took advantage of this for a 21–0 run that sealed the game in their favor. The Colonials' Jeremy Chappell was the only team member to score double-digit points with 11, and he also led the team with six rebounds, two steals, and three blocks. Raymar Morgan was the Spartans' leading scorer with 16 points.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Midwest Region, Second round
Ninth-seeded Siena faced top seed Louisville, with the Cardinals emerging victorious 79–72. Taking advantage of Louisville's 19 turnovers, the Saints came back from a 12-point deficit with 17:21 left in the game to snatch the lead around the 9-minute mark. Edwin Ubiles broke through Louisville's full-court pressure and added 24 points for Siena. Terrence Williams, known as one of the most relaxed players on the Cardinals roster, saved his team by grabbing rebounds and making 3s. He led the team with 24 points, 15 rebounds, two steals, and four assists. Earl Clark also helped the Cardinals' cause with 12 points and 12 rebounds.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Midwest Region, Second round
In a 12 vs. 13 seed Cinderella matchup, Arizona handily defeated Cleveland State. The Wildcats' zone defense puzzled Cleveland State, and their fast breaks sealed the game. The smallest deficit the Vikings faced was 48–44 about midway through the second half, though the Wildcats then went on a 13–2 run led by Nic Wise's five consecutive points. His 21 points led the team's four double-digit scorers. Arizona was excellent behind the free-throw line, finishing 24 for 28.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Midwest Region, Second round
Cole Aldrich's triple-double with 13 points, 20 rebounds, and 10 blocked shots paved the way for a third-seeded Kansas win over 11 seed Dayton. This was only the sixth triple-double in NCAA tournament history. With 43 points, Dayton scored the fewest points they had all season, compared to Kansas's 60. Despite their small point total, the Flyers shot 72 times, its most all season, amounting to a 22.2 shooting percentage. The Jayhawks were also not having one of their better offensive games, with Sherron Collins being an exception; he made 25 points. This marked the third straight Sweet Sixteen appearance for Kansas.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Midwest Region, Second round
Playing the tenth-seeded USC Trojans, second-seeded Michigan State utilized Travis Walton's career-high 18 points for a 74–69 win. Normally known as a defensive player and averaging 4.9 points per game, Walton shot 8 for 13 from the field. His team out-rebounded USC 33 to 23, and USC made only one three-point play. Star Trojan Taj Gibson was in foul trouble throughout much of the game, and yet his teammates rallied for 14 lead changes and 16 ties. Dwight Lewis, who gave a 19-point performance overall, scored six consecutive points for USC for a late tie. The Spartans only earned a victory after the Trojans missed their last nine shots. With the win, Michigan State has made it to the Sweet 16 eight times of the last 12 years, more than any other team except Duke.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Midwest Region, Regional semifinals (Sweet Sixteen)
Louisville, the region's top seed, routed twelfth-seeded Arizona 103–64. In NCAA tournament history, this was Louisville's largest win and Arizona's largest loss. It was no surprise, given the Cardinals' 57.6 field goal percentage and their 48% shooting behind the arc. Their fullcourt pressure forced 15 turnovers on the Wildcats the entire game, including nine in the first half. Earl Clark led the Cardinals with 19 points, whose ballhandling garnered 29 assists. This was the most lopsided Sweet 16 victory since 1972.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Midwest Region, Regional semifinals (Sweet Sixteen)
The Michigan State-Kansas matchup was much more intense. After overcoming a 13-point first half deficit, the Spartans won 67–62. They shot 16 of 17 from the foul line, and on their only miss they rebounded the ball and gave Raymar Morgan the only points of the night on a dunk. Such rallies in the second half narrowed the deficit and occasionally took the lead, although the Jayhawks responded and were up by 2 with 2 minutes left in the game. They were helped by Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich's combined 37 points. However, Kalin Lucas of the Spartans, who had scored 11 points in the first 39 minutes of the game, made seven straight points with 48 seconds left. Goran Suton also added nine rebounds, five steals, and a season-high 20 points for Michigan State.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Midwest Region, Regional final (Elite Eight)
Michigan State defeated overall number one seed Louisville, 64–52, to advance to their fifth Final Four since 1999. Michigan State held Louisville to their second lowest point total of the season with their man-to-man defense keeping them out of sync all game. Center Goran Suton had 19 points and Durrel Summers had 12 in the rout. Earl Clark had 19 for Louisville.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, West Region
A. J. Price was named MVP of the West Regional. He was joined by teammate Kemba Walker, Missouri's DeMarre Carroll and J. T. Tiller and Memphis' Tyreke Evans on the NCAA West All-regional team.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, West Region, First round
Forward Quincy Pondexter scored 23 points to lead his Washington Huskies to a first round 71–58 win over Mississippi State Bulldogs in the West Regional. Only Barry Stewart put up double digit points (14) for the Bulldogs.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, West Region, Second round
Pac-10 champions Washington Huskies scored 46 points in the second half, but it was not enough to beat the Purdue Boilermakers in the second round of West Regional, falling short by two points (76–74). Leaders for Purdue were JaJuan Johnson with 22 points and Keaton Grant with 12 rebounds. Isaiah Thomas with 24 points and Jon Brockman with 18 rebounds led the Huskies.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, West Region, Regional semifinals (Sweet Sixteen)
Connecticut faced Purdue at University of Phoenix Stadium in a West Regional semifinal. It was UConn who took full advantage of many Purdue mistakes and, even though Robbie Hummel was able to shoot quite well scoring 17 points, it was Hasheem Thabeet and the Huskies who pulled away for a 72–60 win to move onto the regional finals.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, West Region, Regional semifinals (Sweet Sixteen)
In the nightcap of the sweet sixteen matchups, two sets of Tigers met, pitting Missouri against Memphis in a matchup that saw teams with similar fast-paced styles meet. Missouri was able to pull away with a 27–7 run that gave them a 64–40 lead. Though Memphis attempted to claw back into the game through Tyreke Evans' 33 points, it was JT Tiller, DeMarre Carroll, and Leo Lyons  that moved on to meet UConn in the regional final along with the rest of their Missouri Tigers.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, West Region, Regional final (Elite Eight)
Kemba Walker came off the UConn bench to spark them to a victory over the 3 seeded Missouri Tigers.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, East Region
Scottie Reynolds was named Regional most outstanding player. He was joined by teammates Dwayne Anderson and Dante Cunningham, Panthers Sam Young and DeJuan Blair on the NCAA East All-Regional team.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, East Region, First round
UCLA Bruins' Alfred Aboya scored two free-throw points with 48 seconds remaining in the game to help UCLA get by VCU in the first round at the East Regional in Philadelphia's Wachovia Center with Maynor's potential game winning jumper bouncing off the rim at the buzzer. Top scorers in the game were Eric Maynor (21) for VCU and Josh Shipp (16) for UCLA.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, East Region, First round
Villanova Wildcats, playing at home against an American University team that featured 5 seniors, fell behind early as American hit a barrage of 3 pointers. However, in the 2nd half, Villanova was able to take advantage of 20 free throws in the final 13 minutes of the game to win against American.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, East Region, First round
No . 12 seed Wisconsin upset #5 seed Florida St. 61–59 in OT. Down 31–19 at the half, the Badgers' Jason Bohannon made a three-point jumper to give Wisconsin the lead with 45 seconds left in regulation. Trevon Hughes fouled Toney Douglas, who made two free throws to send the game into over-time. In over-time, the Badgers trailed by one with just seconds left when Hughes made a twisting shot from the lane over two defenders to put the Badgers ahead 60–59. Hughes was also fouled on the shot, and made the resulting free throw to make the score 61–59. Florida State had just enough time to run a full court in-bounds play but, the pass was deflected at half court thus securing the Badger victory.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, East Region, Second round
By six Wildcats scoring double-digit points, Villanova ended UCLA's hope of going to the Final Four for the fourth time in a row. Dante Cunningham had 18 points; Reggie Redding and Corey Fisher had 13; Corey Stokes put up 12; eleven points came from Scottie Reynolds and ten points were put up by Dwayne Anderson for the winning team. Josh Shipp had 18 points and Alfred Aboya had 8 rebounds for UCLA.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, East Region, Regional semifinals (Sweet Sixteen)
Villanova (#3) upset Duke (#2), 77–54, to advance to the Regional Championship game to face Pittsburgh (#1). The Wildcats, who were ahead by 3 at half-time, were led in scoring by Scottie Reynolds (16), Dante Cunningham (14) and Reggie Redding (11).


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, East Region, Regional final (Elite Eight)
Number one seed Pittsburgh was upset by the Villanova Wildcats, 78–76 in the East Regional Finals, denying the Panthers a chance for a first national championship in men's basketball. With five seconds remaining, Levance Fields, who was fouled by Corey Fisher, shot two free-throws to tie the game for Pitt. But Scottie Reynolds' one-second jumper was good to give Villanova an upset victory. Pitt's Sam Young scored 28 points and DeJuan Blair had 20 points. Dwayne Anderson was top scorer for the Wildcats with 17 points.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, South Region
Ty Lawson was the South regional MVP and he was joined on the All-regional team by teammates Danny Green and Tyler Hansbrough as well as Blake Griffin and Syracuse's Jonny Flynn.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, South Region, First round
WKU advanced to the second round for a second consecutive year as a 12 seed, beating 5th seeded Illinois. 10th seeded Michigan upset 7th seeded Clemson 62–59 in its first tournament win since 1998. It was Michigan's first tournament appearance in 11 years after the school was rocked with sanctions and punishments from the Chris Webber scandal in the mid-2000s.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Final Four
All final four teams in the tournament had won at least one national championship. Entering the tournament, North Carolina had the most, with four (1957, 1982, 1993, 2005); Connecticut had two; (1999, 2004); Michigan State also had two; (1979, 2000), and Villanova won one; (1985).


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Final Four
The Spartans had home court advantage by playing in their home state. Six teams have played the Final Four in their home states, but only four of them won. UCLA (1968, 1972, 1975) and North Carolina State (1974) won the national title, but Duke (1994) and Purdue (1980) lost in the Final Four. The biggest advantage came in 1968 and 1972 when UCLA played the championship game at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, which is a short distance from Pauley Pavilion, their home court since 1965.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Final Four, Michigan State vs. Connecticut
Michigan State, with 7 minutes to play, finally took hold of the game and defeated the number one seed Connecticut to advance to the championship game against North Carolina. The Spartans started the game with a 7-point run, but the Huskies came back to take a lead in the first half. Michigan State took it back and was leading by two at the half. Connecticut had the lead twice early in the second period. Michigan State, led by guard Kalin Lucas with 21 points and forward Raymar Morgan with 18 points, was just too much at the end for the Huskies. Scoring for Connecticut was shared by Jeff Adrien (13), Stanley Robinson (15), Hasheem Thabeet (17) and A.J. Price (15).


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Final Four, Villanova vs. North Carolina
After the first five minutes, North Carolina used an 11-point run to end Villanova's hope for a national championship and put the Tar Heels into the championship game for a chance to win their fifth title in nine trips. Ty Lawson produced 22 points, followed by Wayne Ellington with 20 points and Tyler Hansbrough with 18 points. Hansbrough, the sixth-leading scorer in tournament history, pulled down 11 rebounds. For Roy Williams, who coached North Carolina to a national championship in 2005, it is back to the title game again.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Final Four, Championship game – Michigan State vs. North Carolina
This 71st title game featured #1 seed North Carolina, which had a 4–4 record in the finals, versus #2 seed Michigan State, which had a 2–0 record going into the game. It was also a matchup featuring future Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo, who guided Michigan State to the championship in 2000 and 5 trips to the Final Four, against current Hall of Famer Roy Williams, who won the title in 2005 and reached 7 Final Fours.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Final Four, Championship game – Michigan State vs. North Carolina
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the 1979 national title game between Michigan State Spartans and the Sycamores of Indiana State, Hall of Fame players Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Larry Bird, who had played against each other, presented the game ball at the 2009 NCAA national championship game Monday night.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Final Four, Championship game – Michigan State vs. North Carolina
The game was a rematch of "BasketBowl II", of 2008's ACC-Big Ten Challenge, won by the Tar Heels 98–63. That game was also played at Ford Field.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Final Four, Championship game – Michigan State vs. North Carolina
North Carolina, with a first bucket from Deon Thompson, took off and ran to a 21-point lead at the 10-minute mark. The lead grew to 24 with less than 5 minutes remaining in the first half, with most points coming from Wayne Ellington (15). The Spartans were behind 34–55 at the half, a tournament record lead for the Tar Heels. Goran Suton had the most points for Michigan State.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Final Four, Championship game – Michigan State vs. North Carolina
In the second half, Michigan State made a comeback to within 13 points of North Carolina with 4:56 to go in the game, but was unable to overcome the record 21 turnovers. Roy Williams and his Tar Heels defeated the Spartans 89–72 to take home his second trophy for the university. Ty Lawson set a record with 8 steals.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Record by conference
The America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, CAA, Ivy, MAC, MEAC, MVC, NEC, Patriot, Southland, SoCon, SWAC, Summit, and WAC conferences all went 0–1.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Record by conference
The columns R32, S16, E8, F4, and CG respectively stand for the Round of 32, Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight, Final Four, and Championship Game.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Media, Television
Once again, except for the play-in game, which was telecast on ESPN, CBS and CBS College Sports Network served as broadcasters on television for the tournament. The only change from past years at the Final Four was that Jim Nantz worked with Clark Kellogg in the color commentary position instead of Billy Packer, who left CBS in July 2008.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Media, Television
For the play-in game in Dayton, ESPN had Brent Musburger, Steve Lavin and Erin Andrews working as the announcers.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Media, Television
Some CBS affiliates put additional game broadcasts on digital subchannels, or, as in the following two instances, on other stations:


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Media, Radio
Westwood One was once again the radio home for the tournament.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Media, International broadcasters
Yahoo! Sports and NCAA.com also broadcast the entire tournament live for free on the internet.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament: qualifying teams
This is a list of qualifying teams for the 2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. A total of 65 teams entered the tournament. Thirty of the teams earned automatic bids by winning their conference tournaments. The automatic bid of the Ivy League, which does not conduct a post-season tournament, went to its regular season champion. The remaining 34 teams were granted at-large bids, which are extended by the NCAA Selection Committee. All teams are seeded 1 to 16 within their regionals, while the Selection Committee seeded the entire field from 1 to 65.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament: qualifying teams, Qualifying teams
Team names are those used on ESPN.com scoreboards and team pages.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament: qualifying teams, Qualifying teams, Automatic bids
Automatic bids to the tournament were granted for winning a conference championship tournament, except for the automatic bid of the Ivy League given to the regular season champion. Seeds listed were seeds within the conference tournaments. Runners-up in bold face were given at-large berths.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship
The 2009 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship was a golf tournament contested from May 26 to May 30, 2009 at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. It was the 71st NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship. The team championship was won by the Texas A&M Aggies who won their first national championship by defeating the Arkansas Razorbacks in the championship match play round 3–2. This was the first tournament to feature a match play playoff to determine the national champion. The individual national championship was won by Matt Hill from North Carolina State University.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship, Venue
This was the second NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship held at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. The first was won by Notre Dame in 1944.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
The 2009 NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Tournament involved 16 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college ice hockey as the culmination of the 2008–09 season. The tournament began on March 27, 2009, and ended with the championship game on April 11.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
Boston University, coached by Jack Parker, won its fifth national title (and first since 1995) with a 4–3 overtime victory in the championship game over Miami University, coached by Enrico Blasi. The game marked the thirteenth time the NCAA championship game has gone to overtime and the first since Minnesota's win over Maine in 2002.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
Colby Cohen, sophomore defenseman for Boston University, scored the championship-winning goal in overtime and was named the Frozen Four's Most Outstanding Player.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Tournament procedure
The 2009 NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Championship was a single-elimination tournament featuring 16 teams representing all six Division I conferences in the nation. The Championship Committee seeded the entire field from 1 to 16 within four regionals of 4 teams. The winners of the six Division I conference championships received automatic bids to participate in the NCAA Championship.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Tournament procedure
In setting up the tournament, the Championship Committee sought to ensure "competitive equity, financial success and likelihood of playoff-type atmosphere at each regional site." A team serving as the host of a regional was placed within that regional. The top four teams were assigned overall seeds and placed within the bracket such that the national semifinals would feature the No. 1 seed versus the No. 4 seed and the No. 2 seed versus the No. 3 seed had the top four teams have won their respective regional finals.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Tournament procedure
Number 1 seeds were also placed as close to their home site as possible, with the No. 1 seed receiving first preference. Conference matchups were avoided in the first round; should five or more teams from one conference have made the tournament, this guideline may have been disregarded in favor of preserving the bracket's integrity.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Tournament procedure
The four regionals were officially named after their geographic areas. The following were the sites for the 2009 regionals:


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Qualifying teams
The at-large bids and seeding for each team in the tournament were announced on March 22, 2009. The Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) and Hockey East each had four teams receive a berth in the tournament, while ECAC Hockey and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) each had three teams receive a berth, and Atlantic Hockey and College Hockey America (CHA) each had one team receive a berth.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Preliminary rounds
The number in parentheses denotes overall seed in the tournament. (*) denotes overtime period(s).


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Media, Television
ESPN had US television rights to all games during the tournament. For the fifth consecutive year ESPN aired every game, beginning with the regionals, on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN Classic and ESPN360.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Media, Radio
Westwood One used exclusive radio rights to air both the semifinals and the championship, AKA the "Frozen Four.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship
The 2009 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Tournament was held from May 9 through May 25, 2009. This was the 39th annual Division I NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship tournament. Sixteen NCAA Division I college men's lacrosse teams met after having played their way through a regular season, and for some, a conference tournament, to play in the NCAA Tournament.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship, Overview
The first round of the tournament was played on May 9 and 10 at the home fields of the seeded teams. The quarterfinals were held on May 16 and 17th on neutral site fields at Hofstra University (James M. Shuart Stadium) and the United States Naval Academy (Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium). The tournament culminated with the semifinals and final held on Memorial Day weekend at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The tournament was won by Syracuse University who defeated Cornell University, 10–9, in overtime in front of 41,935 fans.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship, Qualifying teams
The NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Committee selected the participating teams for the championship tournament. The committee announced the qualifying teams and the seeding order on Sunday, May 3, 2009. Seven conferences received automatic bids for their top team. The remaining nine teams were selected by the committee as "at-large" bids.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship, Qualifying teams
Five conferences held tournament championships, which also determined their NCAA bids. Siena earned an automatic bid by winning the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) championship for both their first conference title and first NCAA tournament appearance. Villanova earned an automatic bid by winning Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) championship and also made its NCAA tournament debut. Navy earned an automatic bid by winning its fifth Patriot League championship in six years. Both Notre Dame and UMBC repeated as conference champions by winning the Great Western Lacrosse League (GWLL) and America East Conference, respectively.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship, Qualifying teams
Two conferences awarded their bids based on regular season performance. UMass earned the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) championship and its automatic with a 6–1 conference record. The Ivy League awarded its automatic bid to Cornell. Princeton and Cornell possessed identical conference records and were named co-champions. The head-to-head regular season game, which Cornell had won, acted as the tie-breaking criterion.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship, Qualifying teams
The remaining nine berths were awarded to at-large teams. Duke won the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) tournament for the third straight season, but the league does not receive an automatic bid because it does not have at least six members. Nevertheless, all four ACC teams received at-large bids: Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia. Additionally, the NCAA Selection Committee awarded at-large bids to: independents Johns Hopkins and Syracuse, Brown and Princeton of the Ivy League, and Hofstra of the CAA.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship, Game summaries, First round
The 1st round of the tournament, seven of the eight seeded teams advanced. Every past NCAA tournament had been won by seven of the eight teams that advanced to the quarterfinals, with Duke being the only one to have never won a national title, up to this tournament. For the first time, all four Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) teams advanced to the second round. It was just the second time in tournament history that four teams from the same conference advanced. The first instance occurred in 1990 with Brown, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale of the Ivy League.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship, Game summaries, First round
The tournament began on Saturday, May 9, when the Brown Bears traveled to face the eighth-seeded Johns Hopkins Blue Jays at Homewood Field in Baltimore. The Blue Jays pulled away to three-goal leads in the first and final quarters, but the Bears equalized both times. In the final ten seconds of regulation, Brown attackman Kyle Hollingsworth batted in a loose ball to even the score, 11–11. In overtime, Hopkins won the faceoff and called a timeout, before Brian Christopher drove up the right side of the field and made a game-winning top-corner shot on the run. It was the third overtime goal by Christopher in Hopkins' past four games.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship, Game summaries, First round
UMBC then played at number-six seed North Carolina. The UMBC Retrievers possessed the most efficient extra-man offense (EMO) and the best-rated midfield in the nation. Their roster, however, lacked depth, and the first-string midfielders were forced to play in the 90 °F (32 °C) heat for almost the entire game. At halftime, the Retrievers led the Tar Heels, 8–6. The lead changed hands several times in the third period, before North Carolina took control for the remainder of the game to win, 15–13. Tar Heels attackman Billy Bitter, who attempted only nine shots, matched the school single-game record with eight goals.


2009 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship, Game summaries, First round
Hofstra played at fifth-seeded Cornell, where the teams were even at halftime, 5–5. The third period was the decisive quarter, and Cornell won three face-offs and outscored Hofstra five-to-one. In Durham, third-seeded Duke hosted Navy. At halftime, the Blue Devils led 10–0 and expanded the rout to 13–1 at the start of the final period. Duke advanced with a final score of 14–5.