For the second time in two months, the city of Philadelphia has a championship resident, as for the second time in three seasons, the Villanova Wildcats are national champions in men’s basketball.
After a slow start to the game, the Wildcats (36-4) surged ahead of the Michigan Wolverines (33-8) because of the play of reserve guard Donte DiVincenzo and never looked back on the way to a 79-62 victory at The Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas Monday night.
DiVincenzo came off the bench to score a game-high 31 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field, including a five-of-eight performance from three-point range. Additionally, the 6-foot-5 sophomore from Wilmington, Delaware pulled down five rebounds, handed out three assists and blocked two shots in the victory.
With the win over Michigan, Villanova won its third National Championship in men’s basketball and became just the fourth team since 1975 to win two titles in a three-year span, joining an elite group with the Duke Blue Devils (1991, 1992), Kentucky Wildcats (1996, 1998) and Florida Gators (2006, 2007) as the only other teams to accomplish a similar feat.
DiVincenzo may be “the sixth man” for the Wildcats, but he proved himself as a difference maker through the first half of the National Championship.
After trailing for much of the first half, Villanova turned to DiVincenzo, and he shot the Wildcats into the lead with a three-pointer at the 6:08 mark. Then, DiVincenzo extended Villanova’s lead out to four points, 28-24, with a triple with 4:52 to play in the first half.
Donte DiVincenzo is carrying NOVA! 🔥#NationalChampionship pic.twitter.com/smkZa04EGC
Then, while being fouled by Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, DiVincenzo got a layup to go in traffic.
Over a two-minute stretch, DiVincenzo scored eight of Villanova’s 10 points.
Donte DiVincenzo has 16 points. Everyone else Villanova has 14. HE'S ON FIRE! #NationalChampionship #LetsMarchNova pic.twitter.com/qliwdvuBZE
Despite a sluggish start to the first half, the Wildcats rode the momentum of DiVincenzo’s 18-points to a 37-28 halftime lead over Michigan.
After making 13 first-half three-pointers against the Kansas Jayhawks in the first half of the national semifinals, the Wildcats connected on just four of their 13 attempts from long distance over the first 20 minutes of play against Michigan, but they found that shot late.
The Wildcats knocked down three triples over the final 6:08 of the first half, when they were able to build a multi-possession lead.
Trailing at one point in the first half by a 21-14 count, the Wildcats outscored the Wolverines, 23-7, over the last 11 minutes of play before the break.
A nine-point scoring run from DiVincenzo gave the Wildcats an 18-point lead, 62-44, with 7:48 to play in the National Championship Game.
Following a nearly two-minute scoring drought from both teams, Michigan got a pair of free throws from guard Zavier Simpson, but DiVincenzo answered with a free throw of his own, and then, converted a layup on Villanova’s next possession.
DiVincenzo continued the run when he hit three-pointers on back-to-back possessions for the Wildcats.
