Villanova Wildcats' Road to the 2016 National Championship
Wow.
Even in this era of obnoxious hyperbole, no one who saw Villanova's Kris Jenkins hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to down the favored North Carolina Tar Heels, 77-74, for the 2015-16 men's college basketball national title will argue that this was not an instant classic.
In a back-and-forth slugfest, guard Marcus Paige tied the game at 74 with an amazing double-clutch three with just 4.7 seconds remaining. It looked like the two teams were headed for overtime.
That is, until Wildcats point guard Ryan Arcidiacono brought the ball up court and pitched it back to Jenkins, who took advantage of a clean look to nail the deep shot and bring the national championship trophy back to Villanova after a three-decade absence.
Here is a look at how Villanova did it, with a blow-by-blow recap of the Wildcats' run to and through this tournament, culminating in a win for the ages.
Winning the Wright Way
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On Sunday, Jay Wright joined John Calipari and Mike Krzyzewski as the only multitime recipient of the Naismith Men's College Coach of the Year award.
On Monday, he showed why.
Wright's Wildcats never got rattled, even when they were losing, which they were, particularly early. Their calling card—team defense—was in evidence once again. The run-and-gun Tar Heels managed exactly zero fast-break points during this game, and UNC's half-court offense was stifled, with nary an open look to be had.
You'll probably hear a lot in the coming days about how Wright's success is predicated on the fact he eschews the one-and-doners for players who will stay long term. People who hold that point of view have plenty of fodder after watching Villanova's starless veteran core—junior Josh Hart, senior Ryan Arcidiacono, senior Daniel Ochefu and that guy Jenkins, a junior—combine for 51 of the team's points and 18 of its 23 rebounds.
That overlooks the huge contributions of younger players like sophomore Phil Booth, of course, who poured in 20 points of his own. No, Wright is a key thread. Here's his own explanation for his formula, per CSN Philly; Wright said:
"We are able to recruit quality people that allow you to coach them, that might not be the biggest names. I mean, all these guys [on the current team] were top-50 players. You're talking about big-name guys. [Freshman] Jalen [Brunson] may be the most hyped of all of them. Like, our school doesn't get caught up in that. Our fans don't get caught up in that.
"
Defense
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This is Wright's program, but man. How about that defense?
You can't say it enough. The team that finished sixth in the nation this season in KenPom.com's defensive rankings somehow found another gear in this tournament.
The Wildcats held their six tourney opponents to an average of 62.8 points per game. That's pretty good, considering they faced the tournament's leading scorer in Buddy Hield—they held him to nine points, and his Oklahoma Sooners to 51, but more on that in a second—and one of its best team offenses in North Carolina.
In the title game, they forced UNC into 34.7 percent shooting on two-point shot attempts. That's what allowed them to gain the lead and ultimately keep it.
"I thought their defense," said ESPN analyst Jay Bilas during ESPN's postgame coverage, "was nearly flawless."
Making Ashes of Asheville
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There was so much drama in the tourney's first days. Villanova did not participate.
The Wildcats smoked the Bulldogs of UNC Asheville 86-56, paced by a balanced attack that saw five players reach double figures, not to mention their usual stifling D.
So, yes. No drama here. But as college basketball fans know, the first round isn't where Villanova's drama has typically unfolded.
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Getting over the Hump
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Psychologically speaking, this might have been Villanova's toughest game of the tournament.
It's a pretty well-known stat at this point, but it bears repeating: Coming into this game, Villanova hadn't reached the tournament's second weekend since 2009. So when the Wildcats downed Iowa 87-68, a huge monkey lifted from their collective back.
"[It was definitely] a big-time sigh of relief," admitted point guard Ryan Arcidiacono after leading Villanova with 16 points, per Joe Juliano of Philly.com. "I was ecstatic that we won our game against Iowa because we know how good of a team they are. But I'm just happy for our senior class to be able to get to experience it, and I know I was ecstatic."
Storming Through Miami
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Remember: At this point, Villanova is still very much under-the-radar.
It's strange, in retrospect, even when you consider its low-profile lineup and previous underachievement. It became even stranger when the Wildcats absolutely dismantled a talented Miami team, 92-69.
This was a team that finished 27-8 and second in the ACC's regular-season rankings. This was a team that beat Duke, Virginia, Louisville and Butler. This was a team whose hard-nosed senior guard tandem, Angel Rodriguez and Sheldon McClellan, combined to average 28.9 points per game.
Oh, those two got their average—29, to be exact—behind 26 from McClellan. The problem was, no other Hurricane reached double figures. Four Villanova players did so.
Cutting Down Net No. 1
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Kansas was the tournament's top overall seed. But even the mighty Jayhawks couldn't fully pull free of the gravitational pull of Villanova's stifling defense, losing 64-59.
The final minutes of this game perfectly sum up the Villanova Wildcats. They calmly hit free throw after free throw (they shot 94.7 percent from the stripe as a team during the game), while Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart picked the pockets of the better-known Kansas stars on the Jayhawks' final possessions. Kansas big man Perry Ellis, in particular, was held to four points and four turnovers.
"Certainly, they probably got some confidence the way they were defending us," said Kansas coach Bill Self after the game, per USA Today. "It came down to them making free throws and it came down to a couple of loose balls, and that was the difference in the outcome."
A Buddy Becomes an Enemy as a Record Falls
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All it took was this for people to take notice.
All it took was preventing the great Buddy Hield from scoring in double digits and restricting his theretofore hot-shooting Sooners to a paltry 51 points.
Of the seven Sooners who saw at least 10 minutes of court time in this game, one—Hield—managed to make four field goals.
The 95-51 final was the largest margin of victory in Final Four history.
"Villanova is heading to the national championship game for the first time in 31 years—and has looked as dominant as any team in program history in getting there," wrote Matt Norlander of CBS Sports after the game. "In fact, the Wildcats just put up one of the most impressive, forceful, unrelenting victories in the history of the Final Four."
And It's Good!
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Forget the defensive lapse that gave Jenkins the clean look. It's not easy to knock that shot down under those circumstances.
But Jenkins was the right man for the job, and with Michael Jordan and Rollie Massimino looking on, he got the job done. With a little help from his friend—Mr. Arcidiacono.
"We have an end-of-game situation like that, we put it in Arch's hands and we let him make the decision," said Wright during the postgame telecast. "Kris said he was going to be open...Kris Jenkins lives for that moment."
So he does. But don't forget the many other great players on both sides. Behind hot shooting from Marcus Paige, Joel Berry and others, North Carolina streaked out to an early lead, which they held at halftime.
But the final seconds of the first half held a harbinger for the rest of the contest.
North Carolina forward Justin Jackson grabbed a steal and looked ready to put the Heels up nine heading into the locker room. But a trailing Villanova defender put him too far under the basket for a comfortable shot, and he missed an awkward try.
On the other end, Villanova guard Phil Booth calmly, boringly swished a mid-range jumper to cut the lead to 39-34 at the half.
Just one of the smaller shining moment in a game—and an amazing tournament—that will be overshadowed by that last shot, which is destined to roam the highlight reels for decades to come.
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