Final thoughts
After all of the upsets, records and weirdness that made the 2018 tournament so entertainment, it ended with the best team in the country winning at all. A tad anticlimactic but that’s probably how it should be.
That will do it for us here at the Guardian but make sure you stick with us for continued basketball coverage. Thanks to everybody for following along with our live coverage of the 2018 championship game. Ciao!
Villanova are your 2018 champions!
Michigan 62-79 Villanova, FINAL
I DIDN’T JINX VILLANOVA!
Michigan 58-79 Villanova, 1:10, 2nd half
DiVncenzo gets to the line and makes both free throws. That makes a game-high 31 points for him, not bad considering that he was coming off of the bench here.
Michigan 52-74 Villanova, 3:51, 2nd half
At this point, it feels like play-by-play is kind of pointless. Villanova has complete control and we’re really just looking at what size win Villanova will be.
Bridges hits a three with 3:51 remaining and I’m gonna call that the dagger, if you don’t mind.
Email from Sammy Lopez Metta Bexar:
I would have tried to be there had Loyola made it, since it’s in my hometown. I suppose Villanova winning might make the horrible traffic-to-be worth it. Luckily San Antonio is a friendly town - - no urinating on historic bldgs, though, please!
That seems like a reasonable request.
Michigan 50-69 Villanova, 5:37, 2nd half
Bridges picks up a foul and knocks down his free throws. On the next possession Villanova’s Collin Gillespie swipes the ball. Oof.
As Bob Dylan once sang “it’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there.”
Michigan 50-67 Villanova, 6:17, 2nd half
And Bridges drills a three. It’s way too early to call a shot a dagger, but man it’s pretty darn close to one.
Michigan 50-64 Villanova, 6:43, 2nd half
Rahkman makes two free throws. The game’s still within reach for Michigan, but it’s going to b a tough one. Scoring without losing time off the clock seems like a solid strategy for them.
Oh hey, DiVincenzo is on the line now and he’s just not missing anything ever again, he knocks down two free throws.
And Rahkman is on the line, gotta love the end of college basketball games, he makes two too.
Michigan 46-62 Villanova, 7:24, 2nd half
Simpson make a layup coming out of the timeout. It’s a start, I suppose but time has become a factor.
Michigan 44-62 Villanova, 8:00, 2nd half
The DiVincenzo Show continues. He makes one of two free throws at the line, then makes a layup. After Michigan scores four straight points to cut the Villanova lead to 12, DiVincenzo makes TWO consecutive three pointers in the span of 50 seconds. Michigan calls a timeout, as would I under the circumstances.
Michigan 40-53 Villanova, 10:51, 2nd half
And a monster block from DiVincenzo! You’ll see that on the highlight reel. Unfortunately for Villanova, Michigan still scores on the possession as Brunson fouls Simpson, who makes both of his free throws
Michigan 38-53 Villanova, 12:33, 2nd half
Matthews makes a dunk shortly after Villanova’s Bridges, but we’re officially at the point where trading baskets is a fool’s errand.
Michigan 36-51 Villanova, 13:43, 2nd half
Spellman makes a layup, this one is starting to get wobbly for the Wolverines.
And Bridges makes the hill that much steeper for Michigan with a three pointer.
Michigan finally hits back when Rahkman Rock makes a three-pointer of his own.
Email from Jonathon Danko:
I am a Villanova graduate riding a bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto. Video of the game isn’t working out so I’m hanging on every word you type. No pressure.
I’ll do my best here. So far, it’s looking pretty good for Villanova.
Michigan 33-46 Villanova, 15:24, 2nd half
Wagner makes one of two free throws, but that’s about the only good news for Michigan. Spellman converts a just slightly off jumper into a layup to increase the Villanova lead.
Updated
Michigan 32-46 Villanova, 16:50, 2nd half
Simpson hits a wonky jumper for Michigan, but Brunson bullies his away into a jumper underneath the basket.
Michigan 30-44 Villanova, 18:03, 2nd half
Paschell, who was something of an afterthought during the first half is coming out strong here in the second. He hits a layup to extend the Villanova lead and force Michigan to take an early timeout.
Second half begins!
Michigan 30-42 Villanova, 18:53, 2nd half
Wagner starts the second quarter by scoring immediately, something which Michigan desperately needed.
But Villanova increases their lead to 12 thanks to an Eric Paschall three-pointer.
Dear Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman. This should be your theme song. You’re welcome.
Analyst Seth Davis just made the observation “You can’t eat a whole pizza at a time. You have to eat it by the slice.” To which I respond: it really depends on the size of the pizza.
Since I have a spare second here, I might as well reiterate that if you want to contribute your thoughts, predictions, jokes etc, we’ll put them up here throughout the remainder of this game. You can email them to hunter.felt.freelance@theguardian.com or tweet them to @HunterFelt.
Halftime
As my friend Jeremey notes, “that game took a turn.” That’s pretty much been the story of the tournament. Michigan could not have started off the game any better than they did, and their defense had Villanova flummoxed for the first ten minutes or so.
It was never going to last, of course, Villanova was always going to start making their three-pointers eventually. Michigan will have to adjust if they want to pull this one off.
Michigan 28-37 Villanova, end of the 1st half
And now Brunson nails a three from far, far away. Safe to say Villanova is getting their three-point groove back. They also have the final shot of the half. Jay Wright calls a timeout to figure out what they’re going to do. (Miss a three-pointer and turn the ball over, it turns out, but Michigan doesn’t have enough time to capitalize on the opportunity.)
DiVincenzo drilled one from way, way back! 🔥🔥🔥#LetsMarchNova #NationalChampionship pic.twitter.com/xxx2ssTxpo
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) April 3, 2018
Utterly, utterly ridiculous.
Michigan 28-34 Villanova, 1:24, 1st half
And DiVincenzo sets up his teammate Spellman for a dunk of his aim. He’s having the game of his life.
Michigan 26-32 Villanova, 3:12, 1st half
A Charles Matthews dunk draws gasps from the crowd. DiVincenzo, who else, immediately counters with his own dunk.
Michigan 26-30 Villanova, 3:59, 1st half
A fouled Rahnkm goes to the line and makes one of two free throws. Then the game turns into the DiVincenzo Show, as he makes a ridiculous three and then, after a Zavier Simpson jumper, he makes an impressive contested layup.
Michigan 23-25 Villanova, 5:00, 1st half
Villanova’s Omari Spellman, who has the best name of all the players in this game, gets fouled by Jordan Poole and makes his two free throws.
Michigan 23-23 Villanova, 5:24, 1st half
Holy heck, Donte DiVincenzo hits a ridiculously long three-pointer to briefly give Villanova the lead before Rahkman ties things back up with a layup.
Michigan 21-20 Villanova, 7:05 1st half
Villanova’s 1-for-9 in three-points. They are not “living by the three” but rather the second part of that cliche. Colin Gillespie gets fouled and makes two free throws to make it a one-point game.
Michigan 21-18 Villanova, 7:32 1st half
It’s been a fast paced game until right around now as both teams grow cold. Some of it is due to defense, but some of it is just shots not going in.
Finally, Bridges hits a jumper to break the stalemate. TV Timeout: This is where I wonder if there’s a button this remote that can mute Charles Barkley and only Charles Barkley.
Michigan 21-16 Villanova, 10:24 1st half
Poole finds Mortiz Wagner for a layup. They’re not letting Villanova catch up.
And as soon as I type that, a DiVincenzo jumper cuts down Michigan’s lead.
Michigan 19-14 Villanova, 11:51 1st half
Rahkman makes a layup, only to be countered by an old fashioned three-point play by DiVencenzo, a layup and a plus one.
Michigan’s Jordan Poole responds with a three-point play of their own
Michigan 14-11 Villanova, 12:35 1st half
Donte DiVincenzo hits a three-pointer. It’s the first of the game for Villanova. Maybe that will break the seal for them.
Michigan 14-8 Villanova, 13:32 1st half
Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman hits a three pointer to extend the lead. It’s no question which team has come out swinging here.
Michigan 11-8 Villanova, 13:56 1st half
Mikal Bridges, who’s heading to the NBA, stops the bleeding with a jumper. Michigan is not making it easy for the Villanova offense, which is probably what they need to do to win here. Michigan’s Mortiz Wagner and Villanova’s Phil Booth trade baskets and we reach our first “Official TV Timeout” (which are an absolutely lifeline for anybody writing live recaps.)
Michigan 9-4 Villanova, 16:18 1st half
Brunson hits another jumper but Michigan goes on a 7-0 run.
Opening tip!
Michigan 2-2 Villanova, 19:28 1st half
Jalen Brunson hits a jumper to start the scoring but Michigan’s Mortiz Wagner answers with a layup.
Predictions
I picked Villanova to win the whole thing at the very beginning. To put it mildly, nothing that happened in their last game has changed my mind.
Well this is pretty heavy, a moment of silence for Martin Luther King Jr as we reach the 50th anniversary of his assassination.
Then there’s a military band rendition of the anthem. It’s a bit of a jarring juxtaposition.
If you weren’t watching the woman’s tournament this weekend, you missed some of the best basketball of the young year. On Friday, both Final Four games went into overtime with the second one becoming an instant classic as Notre Dame eliminated the nigh invincible UConn. Notre Dame weren’t finished, they managed to win yet another nail biter, this time against Mississippi State. They erased a 15 point deficit in the third quarter and eventually won on a last second three-pointer.
NOTRE DAME... WOW pic.twitter.com/Vs3uR9a9nx
— NCAA Women's BKB (@ncaawbb) April 2, 2018
So, yeah, this game has a lot to live up to. No pressure.
Preamble
In the beginning, there were 68 teams. and now we’re down to two No1 Villanova and No3 Michigan who are facing each other in the NCAA men’s basketball championship game.
Of the two, the Villanova Wildcats were the most impressive in their win on Saturday. They absolutely buried the Kansas Jayhawks in a 95-76 game that really was never as close as the final store indicates, setting a tournament record for made three-pointers in the process.
Michigan, meanwhile, had a lot more trouble with Loyola-Chicago, the sentimental favorites and the last true Cinderella team in the field. They pulled away towards the end, beating the Ramblers 69-57. It’s okay, we’ll always have Sister Jean.
Will the Wolverines have enough to pull off the upset victory over the heavily favorite Villanova? Well, I guess we’ll find out shortly.
As always we’re eager to hear from you. You can send your thoughts, predictions, jokes etc either via email (hunter.felt.freelance@theguardian.com) or through Twitter (@HunterFelt). The game’s scheduled to start at 8:20 but we should be back before then.
Updated
Hunter will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s what happened in the women’s final on Sunday:
Arike Ogunbowale hit the shot of her life again. The guard floated in a three-pointer from the corner with 0.1 seconds left, lifting Notre Dame to their second women’s national title with a thrilling 61-58 comeback victory over Mississippi State in the NCAA championship game on Sunday night.
It was the second straight game that Ogunbowale hit a shot in the final second to carry the Irish. Her jumper with one second remaining in overtime knocked off previously unbeaten UConn in the semi-finals Friday.
With this game tied, Ogunbowale took the inbounds pass from Jackie Young, dribbled twice toward the corner and, closely guarded, lofted home an off-balance three from in front of the Notre Dame bench, nearly the same angle as her shot that beat the Huskies.
