Jay Wright's Masterpiece: Villanova Dominant in Historic Onslaught of Oklahoma

HOUSTON — They called it "the perfect game."

Villanova was a giant underdog in the 1985 national championship tilt against Georgetown—and Patrick Ewing—and then the ball was tipped, and Nova executed a flawless game plan and barely missed.

The Wildcats made 22 of 28 shots that night, the greatest shooting performance ever at the Final Four.

"At Villanova, those guys are still legendary, magical guys," Villanova coach Jay Wright said.

Thirty-one years later, a different group of Wildcats produced the sequel.

Villanova 95, Oklahoma 51.

The present-day Wildcats penned their place in the record books right next to their legendary Nova forefathers and will go for the program's second national title Monday night against North Carolina.

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Villanova shot 71.4 percent from the field—trailing only (could this be any better?) the '85 team for the best shooting performance ever at the Final Four.

The 44-point spread was the largest in Final Four history.

Villanova went on a 12-0 run and a 25-0 run, which turned into a 35-5 run.

All on the same night.

All against a team that clipped the Wildcats by 23 back in December.

"Even when we played well within our league, [the Sooners] were up around No. 1, 2, 3 in the country," Wright said. "We kept saying to our guys, 'Hey, just remember how those teams are playing. If we're going to do anything, we have to face those teams one day. Think about how Oklahoma played us.'

"That, I think, was a big part of this game."

Maybe even more impressive than the margin of victory and all of the record-setting numbers was turning the tournament of Buddy Buckets into Buddy Blah. 

Buddy Hield scored only nine points after averaging 29.3 points per tournament game on his way to the Final Four. 

Wright said this week that he had an endless line of people approaching him with advice on Hield. "They either ask me, 'What are you going to do?' Or they said, 'This is what you should do.'"

Turns out, the Villanova coach had it figured out better than anyone else in college basketball. 

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The eight players in Wright's rotation all had a shot at checking Hield, and to simplify the scouting report, it was, essentially, "don't ever leave" the OU star. 

The Wildcats were so locked into that scouting report that in the second half, with the game well in hand, guard Phil Booth mistakenly left Hield on a possession when he didn't even score, and Wright and senior Daniel Ochefu let him hear it during a timeout. 

"He said, 'yep, got you,' and it didn't happen again," Ochefu said. 

This was an absolute clinic on both ends with Villanova working the ball for wide-open shots and executing flawless defensive rotations. 

Villanova's relentless ball pressure took the Sooners out of their offense and had them so frazzled that even when Hield would get a mismatch—such as when the 6'11" Ochefu switched onto him—the OU star didn't even touch the ball. 

Even on the rare chances that Hield got an open look, he usually missed. 

Hield's 1-of-8 shooting performance from beyond the arc was his worst of the season when he attempted at least three three-pointers.

"Just credit them, what they was doing," Hield said. "[They] made it tough on me. Throwing a bunch of bodies at me. Just couldn't get it going."

If there was ever proof that "team" is better than "one mega-superstar," it was this night. The Wildcats had six players score in double figures, led by Josh Hart's 23 points. 

The best part of Hart's line—he only needed 12 shots to get there. 

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"We were just playing for each other," freshman Jalen Brunson said. "I think that's what we tried to do all year. Not play perfect on defense, but play together and step up for each other. Offense, we were sharing the ball, taking smart shots and it was going in the goal today."

The Wildcats' collective performance was so overwhelming that as Wright's wife, Patricia, stood outside the locker room minutes after the final buzzer, she told a reporter nearby, "It was just crazy, right?"

The Wildcats themselves seemed to be less awe-inspired.

"I think I made a comment to one of my teammates, 'We're up 30,' and we didn't even realize what the score was," Brunson said. "We were just trying to play hard for each other."

Afterward, there were no declarations of greatness or the jersey-popping that often accompanies such a dominant performance.

Ochefu left the floor holding up one finger and shouting "one more."

About a minute later, fellow senior Ryan Arcidiacono followed, mouthing "one more, baby."

The reminders of that 1985 title game were all around. Legendary Georgetown coach John Thompson was courtside. Former Villanova coach Rollie Massimino called Wright before Saturday's game, and Wright said they talked for 10-15 minutes. 

Their two teams will likely be compared a lot over the next few days. 

"I think it would be different if we did it," Wright said. 

Win on Monday night, and they may earn themselves their own different, but special, moniker. 

The Perfect Team.

C.J. Moore covers college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter, @CJMooreBR.