Jalen Brunson (1) was a major contributor in getting Villanova it’s second championship in three years after being voten AP’s men’s college basketball player of the year.
Credit:@nbc
There is a lot of debate in men’s college basketball about who the best program in the country is, and after the Championship game April 2, many will think of Villanova University. After a big win against the Michigan Wolverines in the title game, the Wildcats now have two championships in the last three years.
Unfortunately for viewers, the championship game was not anywhere near as jaw-dropping as the women’s game from the night before when Notre Dame defeated Mississippi State on a last second buzzer beater. The men’s championship was more of a blowout in many ways. While the final score of 79-62 doesn’t necessarily seem like a “blowout,” the game didn’t even seem like it was that close.
Villanova led by the score of 37-28 at halftime and continued to outplay the lower-seeded Michigan squad in a second half where the game never even got close. The final 10 minutes of the game was fairly uneventful for the Wolverines as star-forward Moritz Wagner ran into foul trouble and the team couldn’t find their shot. Michigan was a horrendous 3-23 from three-point range on the night, and only made 61 percent of their free throws.
Most experts expected Villanova to get the easy victory over a less experienced Michigan team, and all went to plan as the 30-9 run by the Wildcats in the middle of the game seemed to seal the victory pretty early. It wasn’t the most exciting game to watch, as Villanova played smart and limited the opposition’s chances throughout the entire contest.
Even on what seemed to be an off-night, the high-flying Wildcats’ offense showed why they were No. 1 in the country this season. Villanova shot 47 percent from the floor, but were only successful on 10 of their 27 three-point attempts after making 18 in their Final Four matchup against the Kansas Jayhawks. Jalen Brunson, the AP men’s college basketball player of the year, was actually pretty quiet in the championship game. Brunson scored a mere nine points after going 4-13 from the floor, but it was the performance of Donte DiVincenzo who really stole the show. DiVincenzo scored a game-high 31 points coming off the bench, and shot 5-7 from beyond the arc.
There are many reports that Duke will head into next season as the favorites to win the championship, but it will be tough to dethrone the current champions as the best team in the country. Villanova may be losing Brunson to the NBA draft, and they have only signed two recruits from ESPN’s Top-100 list, but they should still have a very formidable roster that can compete with anyone.
