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Three Key Takeaways.

Kris Jenkins Made History With His Buzzer-Beating Championship Winner (USA Today Images)

1. A Shot For The Ages. After a lackluster Saturday night of national semifinals we were treated to an excellent game for the first 39 minutes of action, but it was the final 93 seconds during which the game went to another level. It started off with Marcus Paige hitting a deep corner three to cut Villanova’s lead to three, followed by Brice Johnson cutting it to one with a layup. Josh Hart then made four straight free throws sandwiched around a ridiculous Marcus Paige strip/reverse layup to again cut the lead to one point. Hart’s third and fourth free throws made it a three-point game again, leading to Paige hitting an off-balance, double-clutch three-pointer to tie it with 4.7 seconds left. That alone would have been an all-time shot if it hadn’t been followed up by Villanova’s Kris Jenkins hitting a buzzer-beating three to win the championship that we are still having trouble believing went down.
2. Arcidiacono and Booth steal the show. The pair combined to score 36  points (a career-high 20 for Booth and 16 for Arciadiacono) on 12-of-16 from the field including 4-of-5 from three-point range. More importantly, it was the timeliness of their surges that kept Villanova afloat both early (Arcidiacono) and late (Booth). Booth in particular picked a great time to have the best performance of his two-year career on the Main Line, as his career-high in points (20) was the recipe for a success for a team that didn’t get huge nights from its typical offensive stars.
3. North Carolina’s three-point barrage. Coming into the game it was supposed to be Villanova that would shoot the lights out from the outside. Instead a Tar Heels team that entered the contest shooting a putrid 31.9 percent from three-point range this season managed to go 7-of-9 from beyond the arc in the first half to stake a 39-34 lead (despite being outscored 18-12 inside the paint). They ended up shooting a scorching 11-for-17 on the evening, tying their season-high from three-point range (they went 11-for-20 against Indiana in the Sweet Sixteen), but it wasn’t enough to losing the battle of the paint (their supposed strength) and Jenkins’ dagger.

Star of the Game. Phil Booth, Villanova. We were ready to go with Joel Berry II here — a player who went off with 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting including 3-of-3 from three in the first half — but he followed that up with just five points in the second half. Instead we are going to go with Booth, who came into the game with a career high of 16 points in a game against East Tennessee State (a slightly smaller stage). He poured in 20 points going 6-of-7 from the field including 2-of-2 from three while making all six of his free throws. Unlike Grayson Allen last year, this performance was completely unexpected as he wasn’t a highly regarded recruit and we don’t expect him to turn into an All-American next season. Regardless, this night was his.

Quotable.

• “I think every shot is going in. So every shot I shot today I though was going in so that was no different” – Kris Jenkins, on his championship-winning three
• “I can’t take away the hurt” – Roy Williams, about talking to the players in the locker room
• “It’s not about me taking the shot. It’s about me making the right read” – Ryan Arcidiacono, on his pass that led to the shot

Sights & Sounds. The last minute, or more specifically the last 4.7 seconds of game time, was absolutely insane. First there was Paige’s off-balance three-pointer to tie it with a degree of difficulty completely off the charts. It sparked a frenzy in the stadium that led fans to throw their seat cushions in the air for at least the next minute. That was followed by Jenkins hitting the shot to end all shots to send the arena into absolute pandemonium.

What’s Next? For Villanova, a party that won’t end for the next few nights. Philadelphia is a city that has been starved for a championship and although it is not a college sports town we are almost certain the City of Brotherly Love will celebrate this. It gets a huge monkey off Jay Wright’s back too, as he will never have to answer questions again about his lack of success in March. For North Carolina, the Tar Heels will have to reassess where the program is headed with Paige and Johnson graduating and the possibility of NCAA-imposed sanctions coming as soon as this summer.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 4th, 2016 at 11:12 pm by nvr1983 and is filed under 2016 ncaa tournament, feature, rushed reactions. Tagged: jay wright, kris jenkins, north carolina, Phil booth, roy williams, ryan arcidiacono, villanova. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.