This year’s March Madness tournament was filled with incredible drama, and fans were surely hoping to see another exciting and compelling matchup to round out the tournament in the championship. Instead, they were given a two-hour beatdown in which Villanova prevailed over Michigan, 79-62.
The two teams had much different paths to the finals on Monday. Villanova had earned its way into the national championship through sheer dominance. They won every tournament game by double digits, including a 16-point win over Kansas in the Final Four, where they hit a record 18 three-point shots. Michigan, on the other hand, made it to the finals having not played any team higher than a No. 5 seed. They did, however, overcome this year’s cinderella story, Loyola-Chicago, in the Final Four. Both teams were playing great basketball heading into their matchup.
Michigan came out strong to start the game. Junior forward Mo Wagner scored nine of the team’s first 11 points, and the Wolverines led for most of the first half. With about six minutes until halftime, however, Villanova took the lead, 23-21, and they never looked back. Michigan scored only seven more points in the first half and went without scoring for the last 3:34 before halftime.
It was only a nine-point game at halftime, with Villanova up 37-28. However, it would not take long for the Philadelphia school to pull away entirely. They led by as many as 22 points in the second half, and held Michigan scoreless for minutes on end at times throughout the game. The Wolverines simply had no answer for anything Villanova did.
The Wildcats defense was a major reason for their success. Michigan shot under 45 percent from the floor in the game and hit only three of 23 three-point attempts. There was no room for Michigan players to get open, and many Wolverine possessions were rushed and ended in poor shot selection or bad turnovers. Villanova also dominated on offense as well. They out-rebounded the Wolverines 38-26, including 12 offensive rebounds.
Junior guard Jalen Brunson had been the star of Villanova’s team all year, and just one day before, he had been named the National Player of the Year. However, Donte Divincenzo, a sophomore guard, would come off the bench and steal the show entirely. Divincenzo scored 31 points on Monday night, hitting 10 of 15 shots from the floor, including five of seven from three-point range. After the game, he was named the most outstanding player of the Final Four.
No matter what Michigan tried, they simply had no answer for Villanova. Wagner would finish the game with 16 points, only scoring five in the second half. Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman led the team in scoring, finishing with 23 points in 37 minutes. For the Wildcats, junior guard Mikal Bridges added 19 points behind Divincenzo’s stellar performance.
Monday’s victory was yet another milestone in an incredible four-year run for Villanova. Since 2014, the Wildcats have won 165 games, four conference titles, and two national championships. Head coach Jay Wright now joins Mike Krzyzewski of Duke and Roy Williams of North Carolina as the only active head coaches with multiple national titles, and the program looks poised to remain among the elite ranks of college basketball for a long time.