ST. LOUIS - Visitors to this midwestern city are often surprised at how big the famous Arch is. No kidding. Monday night, an entire state squeezed through it.

Illinois lost a virtual home game, 75-70, to North Carolina. Much of the nation predicted the outcome, but in the neighboring state of Illinois, a Fighting Illini loss was hard to comprehend.

At the end of Monday night’s championship game, the men who drove this ever-expanding bandwagon had to look back at their passengers and come up with an explanation.

Uh, we’re not going where we thought we were going. We’re not going … anywhere else. Sorry.

"It’s just a weird feeling," said Illinois center James Augustine, when asked how he felt for the fans. "People were jumping on … when we kept winning, we’d get more fans and more fans. By the end, the whole state was just cheering us on. It’s hard to answer that question, because it’s kind of an awkward feeling. I don’t know."

If you believe in destiny, you must understand it can’t be cloned. And North Carolina, in many ways, seemed as inevitable a champion as Illinois. But rarely has a state fallen for a team like Illinois fell for these Illini.

What wasn’t to love? They maximized their talent, smiled for the cameras, and played the prettiest brand of ball this side of ESPN Classic. They won 29 straight games to open the season. Then they finally lost, but the loss was hardly devastating — it came on the road, by a single point, on a last-second three-pointer by Ohio State, after the Big Ten championship had been decided.

And then Illinois won nine more. Five came in Chicago, their state’s biggest city, in the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments. Two came in nearby Indianapolis, and one came in St. Louis, each of which seemed to be annexed by Illinois. It was as though the state literally puffed its chest.

MEN'S RESULTS FINAL North Carolina 75, Illinois 70 SEMIFINALS Illinois 72, Louisville 57 North Carolina 87, Michigan State 71

"It makes it tougher," Illinois senior Roger Powell said. "Everybody was so excited, you know what I’m saying? It’s tough that we didn’t get to win it."

Powell had no reason to feel like he let anybody down. But did he feel like he did anyway?

"Yeah," he said, almost too choked up to elaborate. "It doesn’t feel good, man. I don’t know what else to say."

Yup, the entire state of Illinois seemed to be watching Monday night, including a college kid from Mokena, Ill. named James Augustine. He was supposed to guard North Carolina center Sean May. He picked up five fouls in nine minutes. May scored 26 points on 11 shots.

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