Amazing End to March Madness
April 15, 2016
The 2016 national championship was simply one for the ages. Following its epic finish, many experts were calling it the greatest national title game in college basketball history. With such a wild and crazy tournament, from heavy title favorite Michigan State losing in round one to tenth seed Syracuse’s unprecedented final four run, it was only fitting the national title game would be so memorable.
ACC champion and one seed North Carolina, led by outstanding seniors Brice Johnson and Marcus Paige ought their fifth title against a tough and gritty Villanova squad, led by veterans Ryan Arcidiacno and, the eventual hero of the game, Kris Jenkins.
North Carolina jumped out with an early lead by shooting lights out from behind the arc. Joel Berry, the sophomore guard, led the charge with 15 first half points. But in the second half, Villanova ramped up its defense, its calling card this entire year. They prevented Johnson, UNC’s play maker on the block, many opportunities to score. The game turned into a chess match of some sort between two of the most intelligent coaches in Roy Williams for UNC and Jay Wright for Nova.
A back and forth game finally came down to a couple deciding possessions in Houston. With UNC down by three, the ball was in Marcus Paige’s hands, who was heating up and had made a few previous outside shots to keep the Tar Heels in it. Sure enough, Paige came through one last time with a double clutch deep three that seemed too improbable to sink, but it did. With 4.7 seconds left in the contest, they were knotted at 74 and it was Nova’s turn to respond to Paige’s incredible three.
On a perfectly executed play, Kris Jenkins, the junior guard inbounds the ball to point guard Ryan Arcidiacno who advances it up the court looking for a shot to win it. At the last second, he sees Jenkins in his rear view and tosses it back to him, who was unaccounted for by the UNC defense. With no tremor or hesitance in him, Jenkins rose up and knocked down the deep three at the buzzer to give Villanova the national championship.
Whether it was inside NRG stadium in Houston or the Pavilion where Villanova plays their home games, the atmosphere was absolutely wild,something hard to put into words.
