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The scariest thing is that Villanova can still get better.
Let that sink in for a minute. Kansas could have had 10 guys on the court, and Villanova probably still would have won in a rout Saturday night. Raining three-pointers in record fashion, getting big games from Eric Paschall, Jalen Brunson and Omari Spellman, stepping on the Jayhawks’ throats anytime they tried to claw out of their hole, how do you stop that?
Villanova is like an eight-headed snake, and anytime you think you’ve cut off one, another rears up and sinks its fangs into you.
The Wildcats will play for their second national title in three seasons Monday, with Michigan the opponent. And all I can say to the Wolverines is good luck. You’re going to need it. “Obviously we’re very talented offensively. We have a lot of weapons offensively,” Brunson said in what might qualify as the understatement of the season. “But when it comes to us staying together on defense, that’s what makes it special.
“We’re going to keep getting better and keep getting better and be ready for Monday.”
That Villanova is playing like the best team in the country should not be all that surprising, given that’s what it was for most of the season. But the Wildcats have taken it to a whole other level in the NCAA men’s tournament, and there’s no one who even comes close to them.
What makes Villanova so dangerous is there’s no obvious way to stop the Wildcats. In their last three games, they’ve show they can beat you in whatever fashion they need. Brunson broke West Virginia’s stifling press in the Sweet 16, scoring 27 points. The defense carried Villanova past Texas Tech in the Elite Eight.
Against Kansas, it was simply an onslaught, a display of all that coach Jay Wright has at his disposal in a 95-79 victory that wasn’t as close as the score would lead you to believe.
“That’s as good a team as we’ve played against that I can remember,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “They were superior, obviously handled us today. And they’d be hard for anybody to deal with if they shoot the ball like that.”
Or have that many guys shooting the ball like that.
Big games from Brunson, almost everybody’s player of the year, are to be expected. Ditto for Phil Booth and Mikal Bridges.
But when Paschall erupts for a career-high 24 points, on 10-for-11 shooting, and Donte DiVincenzo and Spellman chip in for 15 each, it’s not going to be a fair fight.
Udoka Azubuike made the first basket of the game, and Kansas should have taken a picture of the scoreboard because that was as good as it would get for the Jayhawks. Paschall, Bridges and Spellman knocked down threes and the Wildcats were off and roaring.
Villanova made six threes in the first seven minutes of the game – and Paschall had a rebound dunk off a miss on another – on its way to a 22-4 lead. There were 27 minutes more to play, but the game could have been called then.
The Wildcats would make 13 three-pointers in the first half, matching the Final Four record for an entire game. They finished with 18, three shy of the record for the entire NCAA Tournament.
Kansas did a better job of taking away the outside shooting in the second half, so Paschall and his teammates simply ran roughshod over the Jayhawks on the inside.
That’s the thing about Villanova. You can pick your poison of what part of the Wildcats’ game to stop, but they’ll kill you just the same.
“It’s our best offensive team,” Wright acknowledged. “We’ve had some good ones. This is definitely our best.”
And yet, still, there is room for improvement. As long as there are games to be played and practices to be held, Villanova won’t be satisfied.
“That’s all we’ve worked for,” Brunson said, “is to be the best team we can be by the end of the year.”
It was said during the regular season that there wasn’t a “great” team, not in the traditional dominant sense, anyway. But there is now, as Villanova steamrolls its way to another national title.
Three deciding factors in Michigan’s Final Four win over Loyola Chicago
The clock struck midnight for Loyola-Chicago’s Cinderella run on Saturday at the Final Four. The 11th-seeded Ramblers led by double-digits in the first half and were countering Michigan’s momentum surges early in the second half.
But the Wolverines knotted the game at 47-47 with seven minutes remaining off a Moritz Wagner three-pointer and several uncharacteristic turnovers followed for Loyola – swinging the game in Michigan’s favor for good.
Here’s a look at the biggest factors that decided the game in Michigan’s 69-57 win on Saturday. Moe Wagner
Wagner (24 points, 15 rebounds) kept the Wolverines in the game in the first half (11 points, 11 rebounds at halftime) by taking advantage of Loyola’s lack of size. The entire game, Wagner made Loyola coach Porter Moser pay whenever he tried to go small, scoring a second-chance bucket off an offensive rebound or controlling the paint. But it was Wagner’s ability to stretch the floor with three-point shooting that proved to be the difference-maker.
Should Michigan go on to win its first national championship since 1989, many will remember Jordan Poole’s halfcourt heave to beat Houston as the shot that changed history. But Wagner’s moment of transcendence against Loyola belongs above it, because this wasn’t one answered prayer, it was 36 minutes of answers from one player who wasn’t getting enough help and couldn’t afford to leave the court.
Even after two years of brilliance at Michigan that raised the expectations for this tournament run, Wagner has never looked more like another tall, sweet-shooting German who’s scored about 31,000 points in the NBA. Charles Matthews
Matthews’ aggressiveness getting to the lane and athleticism against Loyola’s quick guards ended up being a huge game-changer.
He scored nine of his 17 points in the second half and every basket seemed to be deflate of any momentum Loyola tried to muster. No three-pointers, counter-punch for Loyola
The fact that Loyola went 1-for-10 from beyond the arc is a glaring stat, but the Ramblers’ aggressive offensive game plan worked early on. They had the game in their control when Clayton Custer made the team’s first three-pointer of the game with 15 minutes left in the second half.
But ultimately, the lack of three-pointers – compared to Michigan’s seven (three of them from Wagner) ended up making counter-punches all the more challenging.
And, ultimately, that’s what decided the game. In Loyola’s four NCAA tournament wins – three of them close in the final minutes – featured the Ramblers punching back harder when their better-seeded opponent started to surge. That didn’t happen in key points in this game.
The only starter, Cameron Krutwig, who hadn’t played hero for the Ramblers, was impressive offensively. But even Krutwig faltered against Michigan’s stout defense – turning the ball over on a much-needed possession late.
And coach John Beilein’s game plan of making Loyola beat the Wolverines inside – while looking to be ineffective early – ultimately helped the power team take down the giant killer. (USA Today/TNS) On TV: NCAA Tournament men’s final: Villanova vs Michigan (live on ONE at 4 a.m.)