By Dylan Edelman It’s no surprise that this year’s NCAA Basketball championship lived up to its name- March Madness. Sixty four teams, six rounds and only one winner. Brackets were blown. Cinderella stories emerged, but in the end, top-seeded Villanova ended up triumphant. In the first round of the tournament, history was made when overall first ranked Virginia perished to University of Maryland- Baltimore County (UMBC), a sixteenth seed. Pulling off a memorable upset, UMBC dominated the second half and beat the Cavaliers with a final score 74-54. That wasn’t the only stunner. Loyola-Chicago (11) eked by with a 64-62 win against Miami (3) and Marshall (13) knocked Wichita State (4) out of the running, 81-75. Round two did not shy away from the drama either. Top ranked Xavier (1) fell to Florida State (9) with a five point deficit, 75-70. Xavier had a comfortable lead throughout the game, but in the last six minutes, the Seminoles chipped away at their deficit until they were in the lead. Syracuse (11) toppled Michigan State (3) in a contest of fouls and free throws of the last seconds of the game with a final score of 55-53. Seventh seed Nevada rallied in the last 11 minutes of the game, when they were down 22 points against Cincinnati (2). On a wing and a prayer, the Nevada Wolf Pack pulled off a nail biting comeback against the Bearcats with a 75-73 win. The short lived fairy tale for UMBC ended its underdog run abruptly with a loss from Kansas State (9) 50-43, while Marshall endured the same fate with a loss (94-71) to their in-state rivals West Virginia (5). The Sweet Sixteen saw Duke (2) eliminate Syracuse, 69-65 and Loyola-Chicago continue its reign by defeating Nevada (7) 69-68. Florida State trounced over Gonzaga (4) 75-60. And for the first time, Texas Tech (3) made it to the Elite 8 by outplaying Purdue (2) 78-65. The fourth round of elimination came in the form of the Elite 8. In an overtime classic, Kansas edged out Duke 85-81- outplaying and outperforming the determined Blue Devils, while Villanova annihilated Texas Tech with a final score of 71-59. Michigan benefitted from Florida State’s poor clock management and bizarre coaching decisions to gain a spot in the final four with a 58-54 win. Loyola-Chicago continued their fantastic run by knocking out Kansas State, 78-62. And then there were four. Top-seeded teams, Kansas(1) and Villanova (1) battled for bragging rights in a duel to the death. The Wildcats’ 3 point shooting was no match for Kansas. With a 95-79 win, Villanova was heading the to finals, the second time in the last three years. Michigan (3) ended Loyola-Chicago’s unbelievable run, 69-57. Even though Loyola- Chicago led at halftime 29-22, a heroic effort by Wolverine Forward, Moe Wagner proved that his 24 points and 15 rebounds would help to clinch a spot for Michigan in the finals. It all came to a head on April 2, 2018 down in San Antonio’s Alamodome, where the Villanova Wildcats faced the Michigan Wolverines. This night was a clash of the titans. Michigan’s Moe Wagner scored 9 points in the first 5 minutes, but only managed 2 points for the rest of the half. Donte DiVincenzo, the Wildcats sixth-man, resuscitated Nova’s lack of momentum in the first half by scoring 11 straight points in the second. Scoring a career high, 31 points, it was no wonder that DiVincenzo won NCAA Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. With outstanding defense and a remarkable three point shooting game, Villanova outshot and outplayed Michigan, 79-62. Philly had another championship parade to plan.
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February 2020
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