North Carolina finished the regular season at 16–15, dropped to third in all-time wins, and bowed out in the first round of the ACC tournament. On November 29, 2009, Williams won his 600th game with a 80–73 win over Nevada. The Tar Heels did not receive a post-season tournament bid by the NCAA—the only time in Williams' coaching career that his team didn't take part in that tournament when eligible to do so. However, they did receive a bid to the NIT. The Tar Heels made it to the NIT championship game versus Dayton, which was played on April 1, 2010, at Madison Square Garden. The Tar Heels lost by a score of 79–68, bringing their overall tally to 20–17 for the 2009–10 season. This 20-win season however kept Williams' streak of 20-win seasons alive. Williams stated that the season was "the biggest frustration and the biggest disappointment of my professional life". In addition to frustrating play, Williams was criticized for comparing the season to the disaster in Haiti by stating, "Our massage therapist told me, she said 'You know, Coach, what happened in Haiti is a catastrophe. What you're having is a disappointment.' And I told her that depends on which chair she was sitting in, because it does feel like a catastrophe to me, and that's because it is my life." Williams later apologized for his comments, stating that he misspoke and "neglected to say that it puts basketball in perspective."