USA TODAY International Edition
‘Big Ragu’ steps up for Villanova
DiVincenzo comes off bench with hot hand to spark Wildcats to title
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 points scored by a nonstarter in NCAA championship game history. His sizzling shooting (10-for-15) helped the Wildcats roll to a 79-62 win over Michigan.
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 game victory 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 “spark plug 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 North Carolina State, Booth, then a freshman, came off the bench firing, scoring nine points in 14 minutes. But in crunchtime 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 three-pointers 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 his team’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 jump-started Villanova’s offense, going 7-for-10 from the field and scoring 18 points in the first half, as the Wildcats finished on a 23-7 run to take a 37-28 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-toback 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 game 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.”
Villanova went on cruise control early in the second half despite a lessthan-stellar night from player of the year Jalen Brunson (nine points on 4for-13 shooting) and foul trouble from Booth (two points on 1-for-4 shooting). Mikal Bridges, almost assuredly a lottery pick at this point, scored 19 on 7for-12 shooting. Redshirt freshman Omari Spellman, who might also be off to the NBA, grabbed 11 rebounds and chipped in eight points.
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. Eric Paschall (six points, eight rebounds) was named to the All-Final Four team after a 24-point performance against Kansas. Even true freshman Collin Gillespie, who averages 14 minutes per game, contributed. He forced a shot-clock violation on defense, hit all four of his free throw attempts, grabbed five rebounds and a steal and dished an assist in the win.
After the trophy ceremony, as players waited for One Shining Moment to play on video screens, Brunson and Gillespie flanked DiVincenzo, arms draped around each other’s shoulders, talking about what they had just accomplished.
It wasn’t just that Villanova won; it was how the Wildcats did it.
In a tournament rife with upsets, with the first 16-over-1 and a Cinderella that danced well past midnight and into the Final Four in Loyola-Chicago, Villanova made its run to the championship look easy.
In a season in which multiple pundits claimed there were “no great teams,” the Wildcats won their NCAA tournament games by an average of 17.7 points.
Two titles in three years is something only the bluebloods dream about, typically. As Monday night bled into Tuesday morning, Wright admitted he did not even imagine winning one title, let alone multiple. He figured the 2009 Final Four appearance, where Villanova lost 83-69 to North Carolina in the national semifinals, would serve as the highlight of his career and felt fortunate to have that line on his résumé.
Now, consider this: Wright joins only Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski and North Carolina’s Roy Williams as active coaches with more than one NCAA men’s basketball championship.
“Wow,” Wright said softly, leaning back against the wall and lost in thought when he heard that trivia. “I’ll tell you honestly, I do not count myself in that category. I still like looking up to them … we’ll call that ‘mind-boggling.’ ”