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Juggernaut Villanova Crushes Michigan to Win N.C.A.A. Championship
SAN ANTONIO — Juggernauts are not supposed to look like this, without a superstar, a catchy nickname, a lineup of future N.B.A. All-Stars or the air of intimidation that is palpable even in layup lines. Villanova has none of these things.
History, though, will look back at these Wildcats and their tactical, almost apologetic dominance throughout their six games in this N.C.A.A. men’s basketball tournament as a team that was, perhaps, just one or two steps ahead of the rest of the 350 laggards in Division I, a field that was forced to watch — mouths agape — revolutionary basketball unfold before them.
Villanova did not need to hit 18 3-pointers against Michigan in the national title game on Monday, as it did in dismantling Kansas in its semifinal. But the Wildcats found a multitude of other ways to outflank and outfinesse another opponent, this time on college basketball’s biggest stage, in a 79-62 win over the Wolverines before a crowd of 67,831 at the Alamodome.
It was the Wildcats’ second national championship in three years, and while it was a younger team than the one that beat North Carolina with a buzzer-beater in 2016, it is unquestionably better. Only three other teams since 1985 have won each of their games in the N.C.A.A. tournament by double-digits, as Villanova did.
“This,” Villanova Coach Jay Wright said of winning a second title, “is out of my comprehension.”
Michigan did have answers for five of Villanova’s top players, but not its sixth: Donte DiVincenzo, who came off the bench and scored 31 points. He fueled a comeback in the first half and put on a show in the second, scoring 11 straight points midway through the half to build Villanova’s lead to 16.
Michigan Coach John Beilein sat on his stool with a puzzled look. If it wasn’t DiVincenzo, it seemed, it would have been someone else. With Villanova, there was always somebody.
“Honestly, we never know,” Villanova forward Eric Paschall said. “We have so many talented dudes that can just get going. We don’t know who’s going to have a good night. Tonight, it was Donte.”
The blowout capped a season that began, unofficially, in the early morning of Sept. 26, the day federal officials publicly disclosed a covert investigation into widespread corruption in the shadowy swale of college basketball recruiting, further puncturing the sport’s claim to sanctity. Ten men had been arrested, including four Division I assistants, and within days, Rick Pitino, the Hall of Fame coach at Louisville, was out of a job. The news lingered over the rest of the season.
There will be more on that. But the N.C.A.A. got something of a pass at the Final Four this time, when the tournament’s most prominent figure became Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, and the games more subtly revealed a different tectonic shift in the sport.
Beilein and his Villanova counterpart, Jay Wright, might not have imagined the way that offense would evolve when they first crossed paths, in tiny high school gyms in upstate New York in 1984 — Wright as a first-time assistant at the University of Rochester, Beilein a 41-year-old journeyman coach at Division II LeMoyne College. But they reached this pinnacle by largely ignoring the blue-chip prospects eager to rush through to the N.B.A. Instead, they brought the N.B.A. style to college.
Wright, in particular, loaded his lineup with talented shooters of all sizes, reminding scouts of a successful franchise at the next level: the Golden State Warriors. His team set an N.C.A.A. record for 3-pointers this season, and the Wildcats’ 18 baskets from beyond the arc in their win Saturday over Kansas were by far the most in a Final Four game.
“They present problems that most college teams can never present,” the ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla said. “The go-to guy on this team is the open man.”
Beilein’s system was always inventive during his previous coaching job at West Virginia — remember Kevin Pittsnogle? — but he acknowledged that he had evolved, too. He built his Michigan offense around an even more versatile big man: Moritz Wagner, who, at 6 feet 11 inches, was reminiscent of the Dallas Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki.
Wagner scored 9 of Michigan’s first 11 points on Monday, as the Wolverines found easy buckets in the early minutes. On the other end, Michigan’s length and defensive pressure clogged the passing lanes where Villanova thrives to generate open shots. Everything was contested. The Wildcats missed eight of their first nine 3-pointers.
In the Villanova huddle, the players calmly said, “attitude” — a mantra of this program, meant to help maintain composure. And then, a surprising spark caught fire off the bench.
It fit the pregame prayer delivered by the team’s chaplain, Father Rob Hagan, and his message from Saint Paul about sharing strength. It hardly surprised any of DiVincenzo’s teammates, though, when he provided the offensive jolt.
“If you keep finding him, he’s going to keep knocking down shots,” the freshman guard Collin Gillespie said. “Early on, I kind of knew.”
DiVincenzo scored 18 of Villanova’s first 32 points. While his teammates hit just five of their first 17 shots, he rallied the Wildcats to a halftime lead, 37-28.
“Honestly, when I got into the game, all I was trying to do was play hard,” DiVincenzo said. “I just wanted to help my team offensively.”
Michigan was said to be the team of destiny a year ago, after its plane slid off a runway before the Big Ten tournament, inspiring a furious winning streak that ended in the N.C.A.A.’s round of 16.
But a team-bonding trip this summer to a paintball facility in Pinckney, Mich., revealed to the coaching staff a cohesive, fun-loving group sprinkled with freshmen and seniors, each with a surprising killer instinct.
Michigan was 9-5 this season when trailing at halftime, including Saturday’s comeback victory against Loyola-Chicago, which propelled the Wolverines to the national championship game for the first time since 2013, when they lost to Louisville.
But even after their record-setting offensive show on Saturday, Villanova’s players insisted their performance was only possible because of their defense. A team meeting in February refocused the Wildcats on the defensive end; their offense was reliable enough.
On nights when shots were not falling, though, Villanova needed to make sure it could find other ways to win — like it did Monday. Jalen Brunson showed flashes of frustration, Omari Spellman was neutralized and Paschall was conspicuously quiet.
Yet Villanova outrebounded Michigan, 38-27, and held the Wolverines to only three 3-pointers.
“I don’t care if you go back 20 years,” Beilein said, “they would win a lot of Final Fours.”
An unlikely hero emerged. The juggernaut rolled on.
Victor Mather and Joe Drape break down how Villanova beat Michigan in the championship game:
2nd Half: It’s the Donte DiVincenzo Show
Michigan cuts Villanova’s lead to 12 before Donte DiVincenzo nails a long 3-pointer. And then another. He has 27 points and Villanova leads 62-44 with seven and a half minutes to go. It’s hard to see Michigan even getting to 62.
Drape: I’d start a team with DiVincenzo and Moritz Wagner. They are trading baskets. Sadly, neither one is likely an N.B.A. journeyman let alone a star. But they are putting on a show. When finally Matthews gets a steal and a layup to cut Villanova’s lead to 12, DiVincenzo answers with back-to-back 3-pointers. Michigan needs something NOW.
2nd Half: Michigan Needs a Run
Mikal Bridges, quiet in the first half, hits a 3 and then a layup. The lead has never quite made it to 20 points, but has never gone down to single digits either. It’s 53-38 with 12 minutes to go.
2nd Half: Things Are Getting Testy
Moritz Wagner puts a hand into Omani Spellman’s face and is called for an offensive foul. Words are exchanged, and there is a double technical.
Drape: Moritz Wagner can’t do this alone. He is going elbow to elbow, chest to chest with Villanova and just got his third foul. I don’t think Beilein can take him out down 15 even though there are more than 15 minutes to play. No one has come to his or Michigan’s rescue. Not looking good for the Wolverines.
2nd Half: The Wildcats Roar
Villanova’s record-setting offense is fully on now, and its last five field goals were by five different players. The team is still only 5-for-17 from 3-point range, but other shots are falling, and Michigan is struggling to make baskets. The lead is 15.
2nd Half: Villanova Picks Up Where It Left Off
Moritz Wagner started the half with an easy bucket for Michigan, but Villanova answered with a basket by Mikal Bridges and then a 3-pointer and a 2-pointer by Eric Paschall. Villanova leads by 44-30 and the game is slipping away from Michigan.
Drape: Eric Paschall was invisible in the first half, but then he pops a 3-pointer and takes it to the rim, and suddenly Villanova is up 14 points. He is a testament to how Villanova Coach Jay Wright finds used, or at least tarnished parts. Paschall, a redshirt junior transferred from Fordham. Against Kansas, Paschall scored 24 points on 10-of-11 field goals, including 4-of-5 from behind the 3-point line. Michigan is in trouble if he wakes up.
Halftime: Villanova Establishes Control
Michigan had a 7-point lead and was playing swarming defense, and Villanova couldn’t make a 3-pointer. Fans could be forgiven for thinking an upset was in the cards. But a run of baskets by reserve Donte DiVincenzo helped Villanova take the lead, and as the half drew to a close, the favorites looked like favorites with a 37-28 lead. DiVincenzo had 18 points, including three of the team’s four 3-pointers (a far cry from the 13 they hit in the first half against Kansas.)
Moritz Wagner of Michigan looked great for five minutes, but mostly vanished thereafter and wound up with 11 points and five rebounds. Villanova’s 4-for-13 3-point shooting seemed slightly disappointing until compared with Michigan’s 2-13.
Drape: Jalen Brunson, the national player of the year, was having a quiet night until he popped a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left to put Villanova up 37-28. His teammate Mikal Bridges, a projected lottery pick, has been even quieter: 4 points. Still the Wildcats go into a halftime with a 9-point lead.
Michigan Coach John Beilein should be worried. If those two have finally found their groove, the Wolverines are going to get run out of the arena. The Wolverines have defended the 3-pointer (no surprise, they are the best in the nation) and held the Wildcats to just 30 percent shooting from beyond the arc. Still, Villanova has moved inside and shot 45 percent to Michigan’s 39 percent. The Wildcats have outrebounded Michigan 20-14.
Michigan’s Moritz Wagner is a force, but he needs help. Pink Shoes (Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rahkman) has stepped up, but the rest of the Wolverines have been dismal. One of them needs a DiVincenzo-like second half. My money is on Matthews, who is just 1 of 5 and has essentially disappeared. Look for Michigan to get him the ball early. The first six minutes of the second half will show us if Michigan can stop the bleeding and push Villanova into a back and forth game. Very good first half; looking for a better second half.
1st Half: Brunson Buries a Big 3
Jalen Brunson buries his first 3-pointer, with Michigan’s defenders conspicuously absent. Michigan misses, and it’s 37-28 Villanova, with the Wildcats also getting the last shot with 12 seconds to play.
Donte DiVincenzo?
Slam dunk by the revelatory Donte DiVincenzo. His season high was 30 against Butler, so he has the ability to run up a big number. Then Spellman adds a dunk. Meanwhile, Michigan is doing a lot of missing, including their last seven from 3-point range. It’s 34-28 Villanova, and with a minute and a half to go, Michigan calls timeout.
Drape: There is recruiting and there is being in the right place at the right time. Ask Donte DiVincenzo. He was on recruiters’ radars: he was ranked as the No. 124 player in the country and the 37th-best shooting guard as a high school senior. He was also the top-rated player in Delaware, not all that far from Villanova’s campus in Philadelphia. His decision was between Syracuse and Villanova until his high school team visited Villanova to watch a practice. He’s got 18 points in the national championship right now.
1st Half: Villanova Takes the Lead
Villanova takes the lead with its third 3-pointer of the game, all by Donte DiVincenzo. Michigan has been called for 8 fouls, to Villanova’s 4. With a 30-26 lead and the momentum, Villanova starting to look like the favorite for the first time. DiVincenzo now has 14 points, while his more heralded teammates Mikal Bridges and Jalen Brunson have 4 apiece.
Drape: Villanova is showing they are the real thing, and can give as good as they get. DiVincenzo bangs a 3-pointer, then drives and gets fouled. He misses the free throw, but Villanova is up 30-26 with 3:59 left. So far, we are getting what we were hoping for: a well played, high octane game between the two best teams in the country.
1st Half: A Game of Threes
This is a matchup between the best 3-point shooting team in the nation in Villanova (and all of college basketball according to the record book) and the best defending 3-point team in Michigan. So far, the Wolverines are defending better than the Wildcats are shooting. They lead, 21-16.
1st Half: Michigan Leads Early Behind Strong Defense
Charles Matthews has a block and a steal already as Michigan continues its outstanding team defense. Villanova turns to its bench to try to turn things around: Donte Divinceno finally hits the team’s first 3-pointer, then completes a 3-point play. But Michigan’s own bench player Jordan Poole answers to give Michigan an 18-14 lead with 12 minutes left in the half.
Drape: It’s the shoes. The pink ones. Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman first wore them on February 14 to honor breast cancer victims. He’s worn them ever since and the Wolverines are on a 14 game winning streak. I took my son and nephew to the Big Ten tournament and they fell in love with “Pink Shoes,” as they called Abdur Rahkman. It seems that is the nickname his teammates have given him. Every prognosticator in the media world predicted Villanova would blow Michigan out. Wolverines are not letting that happen.
1st Half: Two Easy Baskets
After all the talk of 3-pointers, the game started on the inside, with each team making a couple of easy buckets. Jalen Brunson and Moritz Wagner were the first to score, but Wagner of Michigan hit the first 3 of the game, giving Michigan a 9-4 lead. In contrast to Kansas in the semifinal, Michigan is swarming Villanova much more aggressively. With 14 minutes left there is a TV timeout and Michigan leads, 11-8. Still no 3’s from Villanova.
Drape: Unlike in the national semifinals, both teams have come out loose and effective. Michigan’s Wagner has taken it to the hole confidently. The Wolverines have set a tone that they were not going to be intimidated. They want to control the tempo and they have. Wagner has been the spark plug. He hit a big 3-pointer. Then banked it inside on a twisting drive. He has the predominately-Michigan crowd into the game. They are not going to let Villanova shoot them out of the game like the Wildcats did to Kansas early.
Joe Drape and Victor Mather contributed reporting.
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