March Madness once again proved to be a great phrase for this year’s NCAA Men’s
Basketball Tournament. A quick recap of the championship game played Monday night can be put into simple terms. It was definitely one for the ages. There were no extra headlines going into the game, and nothing to get too excited about unless you were a fan of either the University of North Carolina or Villanova University. However, what the two teams gave fans was grit, determination, and a heavyweight fight. The 2016 NCAA Tournament National Championship game was a slugfest between two contenders who not many people guessed would be playing each other for the title. According to ESPN less than 0.1% of people who filled out a bracket guessed the Final Four correctly.
The game began with a bit of back and forth, with the two teams trading baskets, but not able to pull away from each other. As the first half came to a close, North Carolina seized a bit of the momentum. They took a seven point lead before Villanova’s Josh Hart hit a jumper at the buzzer to make the halftime score 39-34 in favor of UNC.
The second half was much different than the first, with Villanova flexing its muscles on the defensive end of the floor. The Wildcats fought back to tie the game multiple times, and eventually took a lead in the second half. It looked all but over for the North Carolina Tar Heels,who were down by as many as six in the last two minutes. Yet, they still made a run. Point guard Marcus Paige came up with the game’s second biggest shot for North Carolina, as he hit a double pump three pointer with 5.1 seconds to go to tie the game. The celebration was short-
lived however, as Villanova’s Kris Jenkins hit the biggest shot in the NCAA tournament.
Jenkins
trailed point guard Ryan Arcidiacono as those 5.1 seconds ticked off the clock to hit a pull-up
three pointer as time expired. It didn’t take long to confirm that the shot was good as the confetti
fell in Houston and a new champion was crowned. The most outstanding player was Arcidiacono who assisted Jenkins on the game winner. The game was one of the most exciting games ever in tournament history, and the shot by Jenkins will be on replay in NCAA championship highlights forever. GC Student Cameron Howard had comments about the tournament and the championship game!
