updated 11:02 a.m. ET April 5, 2005

ST. LOUIS - Before the biggest game of his career, Sean May followed the same ritual that served him so well all season.

He had a conversation with his father, who did most of the talking.

“You’ve been playing long enough, you know what you have to do,” Scott May told his son. “You have one shot. You’ll never forget this moment if you get it done.”

The moment they shared was brief, but Sean May got the message. He made all but one of his 11 shots and scored 26 points in a dominating performance Monday night, controlling the paint and leading North Carolina past Illinois 75-70 for the NCAA championship.

In the process, May forced one of his defenders to foul out and left another with four fouls. And the burly Tar Heels center left with the Most Outstanding Player award.

No surprise there. May carried North Carolina to the Final Four by averaging 21.5 points and 11.8 rebounds in the tournament, slightly better than his regular-season numbers. In the final, his 26 points matched the total his father scored in the 1976 final, when Scott May and Indiana completed an undefeated season with a victory over Michigan.

“It means a lot, because I tried to live up to my father’s expectations, even though he hasn’t wanted me to,” the younger May said. “It’s very gratifying to know that you set goals for yourself and you’re able to achieve those goals.”

Sean May did beat his old man’s effort in one way — he finished with 10 rebounds, two more than Scott May had in his final game.

“We’ll have some fun with that,” Sean May said with a smile.

When May and his teammates arrived in St. Louis, he showed them the videotape from that final 29 years ago, the first time they had seen it together. Perhaps now May can put it away for good, since he has one of his own. Quite a night on his 21st birthday.

“This celebration is a lot better than that ’76 celebration, ’cause it’s my celebration and this team,” May said. “My dad talked about it for so many years, and I never really understood what it was like. I never won anything on this level.”

The Illini had rarely faced someone as rugged as May, listed at 6-foot-9 and 250 pounds. And they were ill-equipped to handle him, particularly when 6-foot-10 center James Augustine left with five fouls. Reserve Jack Ingram finished with four.

“It’s tough to stop May,” Illini coach Bruce Weber said. “They had probably more inside threat with May than we had, and it made the difference in the game.”

In the final 20 games of the season, May had 15 double-doubles, and he added the final one when it mattered most. May didn’t take a shot after making two free throws with 4:21 left to give the Tar Heels a 70-67 lead, but he found other ways to help.

Luther Head later missed a 3-pointer that would have given Illinois a tie in the final minute, and May leaped high to tip the carom to North Carolina point guard Raymond Felton. When Felton got fouled, a couple of his teammates began celebrating a bit, and May was there quickly to squash it.

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