BARRAGE A TROIS
NOVA PUMMELS KU WITH HISTORIC 3-POINT PARADE
SAN ANTONIO — The roof could have been removed from the Alamodome. Rain could have flooded the court. The basketball could have been replaced with a golf ball.
Villanova would have shrugged, adjusted, and sunk another 3-pointer. The Wildcats have done it better than any team in history.
This season, they’ve done almost everything better than everyone.
Two years after its record-setting 44-point win over Oklahoma in the Final Four, No. 1 Villanova returned to the national semifinals with another eye-popping performance Saturday night, hitting a record 18 3-pointers, and setting the alltime Division I single-season record for 3s, while stomping its way to a 95-79 win over fellow No. 1-seeded Kansas.
The Wildcats (35-4) will meet third-seeded Michigan (33-7) in Monday night’s national championship , looking to capture their second title in three years — following a 31-year drought — and become just the fourth team since 1985 to win as many championships in as short of a span. With another ring, Jay Wright would become just the third active coach with multiple national titles.
“You can’t even say it’s a dream come true. You don’t dream about getting two out of three years,” Wright said. “It’s hard to even comprehend it.”
Villanova, which has set the record for the most wins in a four-year span (135) in Division I history, is just the fifth team to reach the national title game by winning each round by doubledigits.
This year, Wright brings his “best offensive team” ever, which has now hit an NCAA Tournament record 66 3-pointers, and blew by VMI’s 11-yearold seasonal 3-point mark (442) after hitting 18 of 40 shots from the perimeter against Kansas.
“That was just one of those nights,” Wright said. “I feel bad for Kansas. They’re a great team. We just made every shot.”
So many nights have looked the same from the highest-scoring team in the nation. So many games have started the same, with all intrigue stripped before the second commercial break.
Villanova spread the floor, and shared the ball, and sprinted out to a 22-4 lead, leaving Kansas defenders scrambling to cover five perimeter threats on the court at once, failing even after switching to a zone.
On the floor where the Jayhawks (31-8) won the 2008 championship, Bill Self suffered his worst tournament loss with Kansas.
“That’s as good a team as we’ve played against that I can remember,” Self said. “The way Villanova played, we would’ve had to have played a perfect basketball game.”
On a roster with championship experience (Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Phil Booth), the Wildcats received their biggest contributions from their least experienced starters.
Fordham transfer Eric Paschall scored career-high 24 points, hitting all but one of his 11 shots. Freshman Omari Spellman posted 15 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks.
Six players scored in double-figures, seven hit a 3pointer.
“They were shooting lights out,” Kansas’ Udoka Azubuike said. “It was unreal. I have never seen that before.”
It is unlike anything the sport has ever seen, unlike anything defenses have ever encountered.
It was a bayonet against a butter knife, a lion against a lamb, Tyson vs. Spinks.
The Alamodome could have gone dark. The Wildcats could have lost their sneakers, and they’d still have found a way to make shot after shot.
The best were at their very best. No one could look any better.
“That’s all we’ve worked for,” Brunson said, “is to be the best team we can be by the end of the year.”