Villanova 79, Michigan 62
Turns out rise-up threes are difficult to guard. [Bryan Fuller]
Someone finally solved Michigan's defense.
It took Villanova's historically great offense and Donte DiVincenzo's all-timer of a game. After a slow start, the Wildcats overwhelmed Michigan, going 17-for-30 inside the arc, 10-for-27 from beyond it, and grabbing 12 offensive rebounds. When they missed shots, they followed them. When they pulled up for three, they struck the fear of God into your heart. They were so good they didn't even need double-digit points from Jalen Brunson, the national player of the year, to take home their second national title in three years.
The team that wasn't supposed to be here looked, unfortunately, like they weren't supposed to be here. For the fifth time in six tournament games, Michigan's offense looked out of sorts, and they couldn't afford that against Nova. The Wolverines shot a woeful 3-for-23 from beyond the arc. Moe Wagner scored 11 quick points, then only five the rest of the way, looking increasingly frustrated by his misses and fouls. Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman tried to carry the team in his final collegiate game, only for his 23 points to go for naught. No other Michigan player reached double digits until Zavier Simpson's layup with under four minutes to play.
Mood. [Fuller]
Thus capped an unbelievable run for a Michigan team unlike any we've seen since John Beilein's arrival. They came one game short of a most improbable national title with a couple transfers and freshmen added to the leftovers from last year's similarly improbable run to the Sweet Sixteen. Depending on NBA Draft decisions, this team may only lose Abdur-Rahkman and Duncan Robinson, and they bring in arguably the most talented recruiting class Beilein has landed. Even if Wagner (or, less likely, Charles Matthews) goes pro, they will be loaded for another deep postseason run.
Tonight went as many expected, and every missed opportunity at a national championship stings. We got a lot more out of this team than anyone imagined, though. The heads may hang tonight, but this group will stand tall forever, and this may well be the precursor to something even greater.
[Hit THE JUMP for the more photos box score.]
All photos from San Antonio by Bryan Fuller. All photos from the Crisler Center by Marc-Gregor Campredon.
Playing defense the way they do has an impact on their shooting. It does take a lot out of them. They've stated this previously.
This is new. It's something they have to get acclimated to.
Comes down to recruiting.
We got as far as we could with a DIII transfer, 2 star and undersized PG getting bulk of our points.
Next year this team will be way more primed in the athlete department.
it's his shooting, which is purely a skill, that is lacking.
The D3 transfer wasn't athletic, but other than that, we had a very athletic team.
You are playing the best of the best in March, the whole theme of the tourney is survive and advance..Im sure you havent heard that though.
Then you cap it off with "But I'm still proud of my team"
kick rocks
They were making contested shots with no difficulty. There was nothing we could do to win that game besides go Texas A&M on them.
in the way way too early 2018-19 rnakings over at the worldwide leader
Great team. Fun ride. Outcome sucks.
Thanks for making me feel better, Ace.
And sorry to all if I came out too hot after this one.
See you all next year. Onward.
And a Go Blue to you!
I couldn't agree more.
because
1) it was more successful (won the BTT and made it to the title game)
2) we played really hard and got the most out our talent. That's always much more satisfying to me.
what a great run by a great bunch of guys. love them!
and thanks to the departing players who have set us up for a bright future!
and better suits.
I think we know what "better recruiting than Beilein" means in todays college basketball.
and Pitt and so on all stepped into a massive crater and Nova gets all the players who might have gone there in the past.
Because of that, I'm not ready to point fingers at Jay Wright.
Jay Wright isn't dirty.
I want a team like Villanova. That was impressive.
Michigan with more talent is that team.
The talent is coming.
So much to be proud of. It's always great to be a Michigan Wolverine. Lots of fond memories to last and lots of exciting times to look forward to.
Go Blue!
"this team may only lose Abdur-Rahkman and Duncan Robinson"
That's the sad part for me. MAAR was a joy to watch as was Robinson. They left their mark in Michigan lore that's for sure. Wagner is probably gone and he'll be missed too. Best of luck to them. For the rest, reset and do it again next year!! :)
Go Blue!!
As a D-III transfer, he's had more than enough glory at Michigan to fall back on.
I think I'll miss the Dunc and Dak podcasts the most.
Sometimes you're just second best. Much like the Loyola game Saturday, it was pretty apparent that one team was just more talented and athletic than the other. It's still shocking this collection of spare parts scrapped its way to the title game. You take the expected growth of returning guys with the influx of talent coming in the fall, we could really be set up for a special run.
Don't feed the trolls.
We had the #1 one-seed and last year's National Champion on our side of the bracket.
And they got crushed.
We have to play who they put in front of us. We can't customize our tournament opponents to our liking.
Otherwise we would just play Sparty 6 times.
If you don't think that hypothetical hasn't crossed Johnny RCMB Spartyfan's mind... You'd think Warde had somehow hacked the NCAA mainframe and pre-drawn up the bracket, the way that fanbase has reacted to this tournament run.
At least we beat our 11 seed.
The seniors go out, but they go out in their last possible game- no early exits.
Future looks bright, and maybe we get some mo' Mo?
Even Ace went cold tonight.
Happens to the best of them.
tough loss...
shooting woes just killed Michigan's chances tonight... had to match Divincezo, but kid just had another gear - hitting from everywhere...
Proud of the team, but really disappointed for MAAR and Duncan and probably Mo...as the first two are done...
Not sure if this would change the calculus for Mo, but it was an amazing run by him at Michigan if he decides to leave
In the first half I was extremely frustrated with our poor shooting - it felt like the game was there for the taking. The second half made it clear that it wasn't. Nova didn't even shoot particularly well overall (10-27) from downtown and still took it to us.
Oh well. We'll raise two banners and have great memories of this run.
But still, this would sting a bit less if Michigan had played anywhere near their full potential on offense. I love that Beilein and Yaklich manage to build a team that can win ugly - hate that in 6 games we got 4 ugly wins and one ugly loss.
“Tip of the cap to the better team” feels a lot better when you feel like your side did everything they could, rings kind of hollow when you left so many points out there. Maybe not enough to change the outcome, but enough to make it competitive, and then who knows? Too many what ifs.
This will eventually be mostly sweet, but right now bitter is the main flavor.
And maybe it's a bad thing. However, I can honestly say it hurts but I'm still proud of these kids. Fact of the matter, the better team won. We still faught hard. My head is high. Go blue. Best of luck to MAAR and the seniors and to Mo if this is the end of the Michigan line for him.
No kidding, it's just basketball. It's not if you win or lose, it's how you play the game. With everything going on right now, I can say I actually believe that.
Go Blue. For now and forever.
I still can't believe we were there. It still feels like a dream. Anyone too upset over this loss is just being greedy.
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