Wildcats Win Wild Title Game

You of the big reasons that people love watching sports is you never know what's going to happen. A hero can come from out of nowhere and make a big play at the right time, when it's needed most. Last night, in the National Championship game in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, a new hero emerged. His name was Kris Jenkins and he may have hit the biggest shot of his life to this point. His game winning buzzer beater gave Villanova it's second National Championship in school history, as they defeated North Carolina 77-74 in one of the most dramatic games in history. This game will go down as one of the most dramatic, and tightly contested games ever played for a national title.

The first half saw neither team taking a lead larger than five points in the first 19 minutes. In the last minute of the half, North Carolina briefly went up by seven, and had the chance to go up by nine. However, Villanova's Josh Hart blocked a layup attempt, which led to a Phil Booth jump shot at the other end, cutting the deficit to 39–34 as the clock expired.

At the break, Joel Berry II of the Tar Heels led all players with 15 points. Despite entering the game ranked only 294th out of all 351 Division I teams in three-point shooting, North Carolina hit seven of their nine three-point attempt in the first half. However, the Tar Heels hit just 32% of their two-point attempts. Villanova led points in the paint by a 18–12 margin, having connected on 65% on their two-point shots. The Tar Heels led in fast break points by a 10–2 margin and collected five offensive rebounds compared to one for Villanova. Villanova's Kris Jenkins played just four minutes in the half after getting into early foul trouble. After the break, Villanova went on a 13–2 run and reclaimed the lead.

With 6:13 left in the second half, Ryan Arcidiacono of the Wildcats hit a three to give his team a lead of six. By 4:47 to go, Villanova was up by a game-high 10 points, leading 67–57. However, North Carolina fought back with two straight baskets. With 1:38 remaining, Villanova led 70–64 before Marcus Paige of the Tar Heels cut the lead to three. After a Villanova turnover, Brice Johnson hit a bank shot to cut the Wildcats' lead to one point. Phil Booth of the Wildcats was fouled by Isaiah Hicks with 35.7 seconds left. He hit both free throws to regain a three point lead. Paige missed a layup attempt on the ensuing possession, but North Carolina got the rebound and Paige made a reverse layup to cut the lead back to one. Villanova's Josh Hart was then fouled and hit both free throws. Down three, North Carolina tied the game on an "unbelievable" double-clutch three-pointer by Paige with 4.7 seconds remaining.

Just in case you missed any of it, here's what the final seconds looked like of this basketball game:


After the game, North Carolina Coach Roy Williams would remark "he turned a broken play into a great play." Villanova then called a time-out to set up the final play. With under two seconds, Arcidiacono passed to Jenkins who hit a game-winning, buzzer-beating three-point shot. "Kris Jenkins lives for that moment," remarked his coach Jay Wright.

Marcus Paige finished with a game-high 21 points and a game-high 6 assists for North Carolina. Joel Berry added 20 points for the Tar Heels and Brice Johnson added 14 points while collecting a game-high eight rebounds. Phil Booth came off the bench to lead Villanova with a career-high 20 points. Ryan Arcidiacono played out of his mind, scoring 16 huge points, and then you had Kris Jenkins, who added 14, and Hart had 12 points and 8 rebounds. As a team, Villanova finished 28 of 48 from the field (58%) and 8 of 14 from three (57%). North Carolina made 11 of 17 three-point attempts (65%) and was 27 of 63 overall (43%). The Tar Heels won the rebounding battle 33-23, including 14 offense rebounds to just 2 for Villanova. The teams combined for just 21 turnovers.

After the two blowouts you saw during the final four games on Saturday, you figured we would maybe see the same thing here, but that wasn't the case at all. This game had all the drama you would want from a championship game. Lead changes, big defense, and above all else, clutch shooting at the end of the night. When you think of some of the great National Championship games, you think of games like Memphis and Kansas in 2008, Georgetown and UNC in 1982, the 1985 game between Villanova and Georgetwon and the 1983 title game between N.C. State and Houston. This one however between UNC and Villanova may go down in the books as the greatest of all time.

Congratulations to the Villanova Wildcats for winning their 2nd National Championship in school history!