SAN ANTONIO — Donte DiVincenzo, the redhead kid with the nickname Big Ragu, scored 31 points Monday to lift Villanova to another blowout tournament victory — this time 79-62 over Michigan for its second title in three seasons.
The sophomore guard had 12 points and an assist to help the Wildcats (36-4) pull ahead in the first half, then scored nine straight for Villanova midway through the second to put the game away — capped by a 3-pointer he punctuated with a wink over to TV announcers Jim Nantz and Bill Raftery.
Villanova won all six games by double digits over this tournament run, joining Michigan State (2000), Duke (2001) and North Carolina (2009) in that rare air.
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Photos by The Associated Press
Photos by The Associated Press
The Wildcats won in seemingly every way imaginable. This victory came two nights after they set a Final Four record with 18 3-pointers, and one week after they relied more on defense in a win over Texas Tech in the Elite Eight.
DiVincenzo squashed any questions about this game with a 10-for-15 shooting night that was better than that.
He opened his game-sealing run with an around-the-back dribble to get to the hoop and get fouled. On the other end, he delivered a two-handed rejection of Michigan's Charles Matthews, when Matthews tried to bring it into the paint.
About the only drama as the night closed was whether DiVincenzo could unwrap himself from his teammates' mob hug to toss the ball underhanded toward the scoreboard. He succeeded there, too.
Read Tuesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.