This year’s matchup between the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Villanova Wildcats on April 4 will go down as one of the most memorable days in National Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament history. North Carolina’s Marcus Paige hit a wild, game-tying three pointer with six seconds to go to complete a miraculous Tar Heel comeback to tie the game at 74.
That was madness enough. Then Kris Jenkins nailed a cold blooded three pointer from well beyond the arc as time expired to give the Wildcats their first national championship since 1985.
“I’ve covered 24 straight Final Fours and this will rank as the greatest ending,” said basketball analyst Andy Katz.
Kantz is right. After a Final Four that yielded us two uneventful blowouts, the championship certainly did not disappoint. From the tip it was evident that both teams were evenly matched, trading buckets for most of the first half until North Carolina made a run to enter the break with a five point lead, 39-34. Carolina’s Joel Berry paced the Heels with 16 first half points, while Villanova had three different players with seven points a piece.
As we have seen throughout the tournament, Villanova is prone to making enormous second half runs. In the national semifinal, the Wildcats outscored Oklahoma 25-0 in one stretch during the second 20-minute period and Monday night was no different. They made a crucial 29-14 run during the latter stage of the half as they surged to a 67-57 advantage with under five minutes to play.
But as he’s consistently done in his four years at Chapel Hill, Marcus Paige put the Heels on his back in the final minutes of his college career. Paige singlehandedly brought his team back in the game, hitting clutch shot after clutch shot to keep the fighting Roy Williams and his team in striking distance. His aforementioned off balance three point heave seemed as though it would have given North Carolina the momentum it needed heading into a presumable overtime.
We thought.
Then the Wildcat magic kicked in with 4.7 seconds to go as Ryan Arcidiacono, who feels like he has spent the last 15 years at Villanova, started to calmly zig zag his way down the court. He proceeded to wisely toss the ball behind him to Jenkins. Jenkins then smoothly caught the pass and rose up for the shot in one fluid motion. At 0.7 seconds he released the ball and when the clock struck 0.0 the Villanova Wildcats were crowned national champions.
“That entire play, that sums up what we’ve been about all year,” said Phil Booth who led the Wildcats with 20 points. “We trust each other. We believe in each other.”
He could not have said it better. The Wildcats represented exactly how “team basketball” is supposed to be played Monday night.
Villanova finishes the year at 35-5 and no classes on Tuesday, while North Carolina ends their season at 33-7.
Leave a Reply