Off bench, ‘Big Ragu’ carries ’Nova to crown
SAN ANTONIO – They call him “Big Ragu,” because he has a deliciously Italian name and flaming red hair. Monday night in front of 67,831 at the Alamodome he did not simmer so much as bubble over, bursting with offensive efficiency when his team needed it most.
But long before Donte DiVincenzo was christened “Big Ragu” by Fox broadcaster Gus Johnson in the winter of 2017, those in his hometown of Wilmington, Del., knew DiVincenzo as something else. Dubbed “The Michael Jordan of Delaware” because of his propensity for dunking, Kathie DiVincenzo worried about her youngest son.
“Outsiders, the media, they can be harsh,” Kathie said. “That nickname, it’s a lot to live up to.”
It wasn’t Monday night.
Two years ago in Houston, backup guard Phil Booth propelled Villanova to the 2016 title when he came off the bench to score 20 points. This time it was DiVincenzo, whose game-high 31 set a record for most points scored by a non-starter in NCAA championship game history. His sizzling shooting (10-of-15) helped the Wildcats roll to a 79-62 win over Michigan, earning their second trophy in three years.
Clearly, something about the Lone Star State meshes well with Villanova reserves.
DiVincenzo, who broke his foot eight games into the 2015-16 season and watched the last national championship from the bench, swore he did not familiarize himself with highlights from Booth’s performance two years ago. Booth was not thinking it looked similar, either.
“I didn’t ever get hot like that!” Booth cried in a celebratory locker room afterward, calling DiVincenzo a “sparkplug on both ends.” DiVincenzo showed off his vertical Monday too, leaping high to swat away two shots and throwing down a tomahawk dunk at one point.
Wright didn’t think about two years ago either – he thought about four years ago. That’s when Wright learned a lesson about playing hot underclassmen over veterans, courtesy of Booth.
In the 2015 NCAA tournament against N.C. State, Booth, then a freshman, came off the bench firing, scoring nine points in 14 minutes for the Wildcats. But in crunch time Wright went with upperclassman Dylan Ennis instead of the hot hand, and Villanova lost 71-68.
“I said to myself, ‘I’m never gonna do that again,”’ Wright recalled. “If one guy’s going, freshman or not, we’re going with him.”
Two nights after blitzing Kansas with a record barrage of threes in the semifinal, the Wildcats (36-4) started slow against Michigan as the Wolverines’ length and athleticism made it impossible to get a good look from the perimeter. Michigan forward Moritz Wagner had his way with Villanova on the other end, scoring nine of Michigan’s first 11 points. The Wolverines (33-8) got to the rim at will, hitting seven of their first 11 shots. Enter Big Ragu. DiVincenzo jumpstarted Villanova’s offense, going 7-of-10 from the field and scoring 18 points in the first half, as Villanova finished the first period on a 23-7 run, taking a 3728 lead into the locker room. The Wildcats also held Michigan scoreless for the final 3:34 of the first half.
“Anytime you get into a rhythm like that, where you can pull up from anywhere and just knock them down, it’s tough to stop,” said Michigan’s Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, who scored 23.
When the second half started, DiVincenzo lasted all of 52 seconds on the bench.
“There was a play that occurred, and we wanted to make a quick teaching point (with another player) so we subbed him in there,” explained assistant Ashley Howard.
That’s how good these guys are. A backup goes off in the first half, and no one even considers starting him in the second. He only went in early because someone else needed a talking-to.
DiVincenzo hadn’t cooled in the second half, at one point hitting back-to-back threes to increase Villanova’s lead to 62-44 with 7:48 to go. After the second heat check, DiVincenzo turned and winked at Los Angeles Lakers player Josh Hart, one of many former Wildcats in the crowd who joined the on-court celebration when confetti rained from the ceiling as the clock hit 00:00.
“You can never have too many shooters, as you can see,” Wright said. “We had five out there who weren’t making them, but our sixth man could.”
But no one need worry about the future of this program just yet. DiVincenzo, the Most Outstanding Player, could leave but will be a starter if he comes back.