Head coach John Thompson and the Georgetown Hoyas entered the game ranked sixth in the final AP Poll (released three weeks earlier), with an overall record of 28–6.

In the midst of a 15-game winning streak, the North Carolina Tar Heels entered the championship game at 31–2 after defeating the Houston Cougars in the national semifinal.

The Dean Smith-led North Carolina Tar Heels were anchored by junior and first–team All-American James Worthy.

Georgetown jumped out to an early 12–8 lead, with all eight of North Carolina's points coming from goaltending infractions by Ewing.

During the ensuing possession, North Carolina freshman Michael Jordan hit a go-ahead basket with 15 seconds remaining to give the Tar Heels a one-point advantage.

Both talented freshmen, Ewing and Jordan, went on to become National Players of the Year before leaving college to play professional basketball.

John Thompson was in the midst of his tenth season as head coach of the Georgetown Hoyas as the team entered the national championship game.

[6][7][8] Georgetown was named by some voters as the number one team in the nation in the preseason polls due to its highly touted recruiting class.

[14] The two teams were tied 33–33 at halftime, but the Hoyas changed their defense from zone to man-to-man to start the second half.

[17] The Hoyas then beat the Fresno State Bulldogs by eighteen, after leading by five at halftime, to advance to the regional finals.

[7][21][22] Coach Smith entered the 1981 regular season with what he called the "best class he ever had" to that point in his career with: Buzz Peterson, Warren Martin, Michael Jordan, Lynwood Robinson, and John Brownlee.

[27] Wake Forest defeated North Carolina, who was playing without Perkins due to illness, to hand them their first loss of the season.

[36] North Carolina advanced to the Final Four with a 70–60 over Villanova as each starter scored over ten points.

[20] Coming out of halftime, North Carolina went on a 7–2 run and eventually won the game 68–63 after stalling for a significant period of time.

[41][42] Ken Rappoport of the Associated Press wrote of how North Carolina was a very disciplined team that takes only high-percentage shots.

[41][42] The Louisiana Superdome was chosen as the venue for the Final Four of the 1982 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

[44] The broadcast earned a 21.5 Nielsen Rating, the second highest for the NCAA national championship game at the time, after 1979.

[47][48][49][50] Georgetown coach John Thompson ordered Ewing to "make his presence known" on defense and to not worry about goaltending calls when attempting to block shots.

[49] The score at halftime was 32–31 in favor of the Hoyas, with ten of North Carolina's points coming off five goaltending calls on Ewing.

The teams traded baskets for the majority of the second half, with the largest advantage being four points by Georgetown with over twelve minutes to go in the game.

[50] The Tar Heels then obtained a single point lead with 5:50 to play and set up in their four corners offense, to run out the game clock.

[48] The Tar Heels were quickly fouled and Jimmy Black converted two free throws, while Fred Brown made two his own on the other end to bring the score to 59–58 in favor of North Carolina.

[48] With three and a half minutes left in the contest, Michael Jordan drove to the basket and made a shot off of the backboard to increase the Tar Heels' lead to three, 61–58.

[48][50] While making an attempt to steal the ball from Matt Doherty, the Hoyas' Eric Smith was called for a foul.

[48][49] On the Hoyas' ensuing possession, Fred Brown mistakenly passed the ball away to Worthy, who proceeded to run out some of the clock before being fouled by Smith.

[59] Despite losing the game, John Thompson was given the United States Basketball Writers Association's Coach of the Year.

[60] Following the victory, Coach Smith received thousands of letters including the likes of boxer Sugar Ray Leonard and President of the United States Ronald Reagan, the latter of which invited the team to the White House.