NCAA Championship Game 2016: Report Card for North Carolina vs. Villanova

Well, that was certainly better than Saturday's two semifinals. It may have been the best championship game ever.

Villanova survived a game-tying three-pointer with 4.7 seconds left to have Kris Jenkins hit one at the buzzer for a 77-74 national championship win over North Carolina in Houston Monday night.

On one side, you had a veteran North Carolina team gobbling up offensive rebounds (as expected) and, at least in the first half, draining three-pointers (which was unexpected). On the other side was a scrappy, disciplined Wildcats team that just wouldn't give up despite trailing by five points at halftime.

Villanova gets its first national championship since 1985. North Carolina is left to wonder what could have been, had Jenkins missed and the game went into overtime. We are all entertained, and this memorable game will stand the test of time.

Now, it's time to pass out some grades for each team's performance in the final, breaking down how the starters, reserves, offense, defense and coaches fared on the game's biggest stage.

North Carolina Starters

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Marcus Paige came up so clutch that he was double-clutch—he nailed a three-pointer with 4.7 seconds left that tied the score. It seemed like we were headed for overtime for sure.

But it wasn’t quite meant to be, and the Tar Heels will always wonder what could have been had they had an extra five minutes. Though UNC was vulnerable throughout the game, it went down big in the second half because it never really played to its strengths.

UNC shot 31.9 percent for the season at the three-point line and missed its first 10 attempts against Syracuse in Saturday’s semifinals. But it chose to come out firing, making its first two and finishing 11-of-17.

You have to wonder about not sticking to what the team did best, though. Brice Johnson took the third-most shots on the team (10, making six), and UNC too often shot from the outside or attempted floaters, and the Tar Heels only took 13 foul shots.

Grade: B

Villanova Starters

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The Wildcats are such a funny team to figure out. Center Daniel Ochefu kept asking to come out of the game because of fatigue. Kris Jenkins picked up two early fouls; the second one was clumsy after he failed to get a defensive rebound. It seems like Ryan Arcidiacono can’t keep driving and making shots, yet he does.

Villanova became national champions because it's rugged and fairly efficient. The five starters combined to make 21 of their 38 shots, including a tidy 7-of-11 from the arc. Jenkins came out of halftime and promptly missed two straight treys on the same possession, and coach Jay Wright looked beside himself on the sideline.

Alas, the Wildcats kept doing what they do—what they’ve done the whole tournament. Arcidiacono (16 points on nine shots) set the tone by scoring an early seven and providing the game-winning assist on Jenkins’ epic three-pointer. Simply amazing stuff.

Grade: A

North Carolina Bench

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Yes, that’s North Carolina’s Isaiah Hicks in the picture above. He’s a little hard to notice.

Kind of like the Tar Heels’ bench in general. Villanova's reserves completely outplayed their counterparts in this one. North Carolina hasn't depended much on bench play in the tournament, and it came back to haunt the team in the final.

Theo Pinson had three assists, and UNC’s bench all came down to Hicks, who provided four points (on four shots), four rebounds and four fouls. He was called for a late, unfortunate foul that turned into a couple of free throws and a three-point Villanova lead. Hicks averaged about nine points through the season but only scored 20 points across the last four tournament games.

Grade: C-

Villanova Bench

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Doesn’t it seems like a guy always comes out of nowhere in the national championship game to play a huge role? That was Phil Booth, a 6’3” sophomore guard who scored a career-high 20 points. He had 27 points through the other five tournament games, and 10 of those came Saturday during the blowout of Oklahoma. He made six of his seven shots and was much more efficient and active than freshman Jalen Brunson.

But Booth even had help. Mikal Bridges filled in beautifully after Kris Jenkins’ early foul trouble. Long and athletic, he nearly had a steal near midcourt with five minutes left and the Wildcats up 10. The ball went out of bounds, but it was another example of the team flustering UNC.

Sure, Jenkins’ shot was monumental. But don’t forget Booth’s turnaround jumper with about three minutes left that put his team back up by five.

Grade: A+

North Carolina Offense

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The Tar Heels did what they do—they had a 16-2 advantage on the offensive glass. But the team that usually puts those back in for points simply couldn’t this time.

Marcus Paige was awesome in the second half, but he and Joel Berry II combined for 29 shots. An early rut in the second half of missed three-pointers helped Villanova extend the lead to 10.

Villanova guards kept fighting hard to defend the post. They were at an obvious size disadvantage but weren’t punished for it. North Carolina too often wasn’t patient enough. Guard Ryan Arcidiacono was routinely guarding big men in the second half, but UNC’s guards didn’t get the ball in there. That meant no foul trouble, and North Carolina even shot four fewer free throws than 'Nova. The Tar Heels have to lament that Brice Johnson only attempted 10 shots.

Grade: B

Villanova Offense

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No team in the NBA was tanking this season to get a shot at drafting anyone from Villanova. But the Wildcats are just one of those viciously balanced teams that found ways to slice through another tough NCAA tournament opponent.

Josh Hart was the weak link, and it’s not like he was awful: He scored 12 points on nine shots. Jalen Brunson was quiet (four shots), but Kris Jenkins found a second wind after first-half foul trouble. Daniel Ochefu fought through some tired legs the whole game—even getting a sweet putback dunk for an early 19-14 lead.

The Wildcats are deliberate, to be sure, but they’re also a fine passing team out of the post, and Ryan Arcidiacono has the moxie that teammates feed off of. And that last dish, a drive and flip in perfect rhythm to Jenkins, was a thing of a million "One Shining Moments."

Grade: A

North Carolina Defense

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The Tar Heels’ help defense was subpar early in the second half. That cost North Carolina, as the Wildcats continued to sink shots. It didn’t help that Villanova had its way scoring in the paint for most of the night.

On two consecutive possessions, Villanova forced fouls late in the shot clock. Those were demoralizing moments that gave Villanova the belief that it could do what it wanted.

It’s too bad for UNC that it didn’t stay more focused. Defense was a constantly hot topic this year. Its pressure forced a 12-3 run late to pull within 70-69 with a minute left. UNC even forced an awful pass from midcourt to the paint from Ryan Arcidiacono. Otherwise, though, Villanova forced its opponent to play on its heels (no pun intended).

Grade: B-

Villanova Defense

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Villanova's defense was just suffocating. Kansas found that out. Oklahoma really found that out. North Carolina, the same. In the second half especially, Villanova contested just about every shot, and UNC made just six of its first 18 out of the break after it was clinging to a five-point lead.

The Wildcats do such a nice job of making teams go to their second and third options. They navigate between zone and man-defense concepts with ease.

And their defense produced arguably the play of the night outside of the game-winning three-pointer. Josh Hart had a blocked shot that set up Phil Booth’s last-second jumper to get within five before halftime.  All this was done by a group that had to play small several times because of foul trouble.

Grade: A

North Carolina Coaching

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There were a few times it seemed like the game was getting away from UNC. But Roy Williams had a veteran team and trusted his players. It rallied from a late 10-point deficit.

You have to give Williams credit. This was a poor three-point shooting team, and he had it in the right frame of mind entering the biggest game of the players' lives.

The Tar Heels had a massive alumni contingency, including Michael Jordan, and the Heels were right there. Williams has a reputation for not being the greatest in-game coach, but if this one had gone into overtime, chances are he pulls it out. If you’re a UNC fan, you have to wish he could have convinced the group to get the ball inside some more in the second half.

Grade: B

Villanova Coaching

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Jay Wright sounded flustered even at halftime during the brief TBS interview.

“We’re a little out of whack defensively,” Wright said with an uncharacteristically spacey look on his face.

But he made all of the right moves in the second half. The Wildcats were gunning for their first national title since 1985 but hardly played with any of that pressure. Most importantly, Wright didn’t overreact to UNC’s hot first-half shooting from the arc. Villanova kept being Villanova, and that’s why it won.

Grade: A

North Carolina Overall

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It seems unfair that this game ever had to end. North Carolina was right there, despite falling behind by double digits in the second half.

Ultimately, the Tar Heels didn't take enough advantage of their huge inside presence. Brice Johnson had 14 points on 10 shots, and a 36-23 rebounding advantage by his team didn't turn into enough extra-chance points, as bunnies were missed at a surprising rate.

This is one that got away despite some unusually strong three-point shooting. North Carolina may have just needed five more minutes after Marcus Paige's amazing three-pointer tied it. But Kennedy Meeks was hot against Syracuse and only took eight shots in the title game (he missed seven). This isn't the first time Williams has had a team come up short in a title game because his players didn't perform up to their typical standard (in 2003, Kansas couldn't make free throws late).

Grade: B+

Villanova Overall

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The last couple of seconds basically summed up Villanova. Leader Ryan Arcidiacono delivered a perfect little pass to Kris Jenkins. As he lined up from NBA three-point range, the Villanova reserves jumped out of their seats, with most looking like they expected their guy to hit that shot.

Coach Jay Wright hardly even reacted as the ball swished through at the buzzer.

He seemed to expect it to go in, too. After all, 'Nova hit eight of the 14 three-pointers it took. The Wildcats continued to prove that this run, and everything about it, was no fluke. They were the best team in the country, taking a couple of tough recent NCAA tournament defeats and morphing not just into a giant-killer but the giant itself in the last three weeks. This was a team to remember, and not just because of an amazing last shot. Wright's team shot 64.9 percent from the floor (63-of--97) in the final two games.

Grade: A+