North Carolina, whose heartbreaking loss in the N.C.A.A. tournament championship game a year ago provided one of the game’s indelible moments — the buzzer-beating shot by Villanova’s Kris Jenkins — avenged that defeat with a win over Gonzaga, 71-65, on Monday to claim its sixth national title.

The No. 1-seeded Tar Heels returned many of the players who left the court in Houston devastated a year ago. But at University of Phoenix Stadium, they could finally bask in the confetti that rained down from the rafters.

They beat Gonzaga, another No. 1 seed, which was making its first appearance in the Final Four. The Bulldogs (37-2), representatives of a small Jesuit school in Spokane, Wash., have never won an N.C.A.A. championship in any team sport. The men’s basketball team has been a constant presence in the N.C.A.A. tournament for nearly two decades, but this year — with only one loss coming into Monday — was arguably their strongest team to date.

It was a sloppily played game, and at times poorly officiated, as the referees seemed to miss several calls in the second half.