Ford: Another chance at magic for Villanova

HOUSTON - For 31 years and a day, the game has lived in Villanova lore and NCAA record books as perhaps the most perfect game of basketball ever played by a college team at a major moment.

Maybe Villanova's performance in the 1985 national championship is still that game. It certainly wasn't bad, even if near-perfection was only good enough to secure a two-point win over the goliath Georgetown.

But now another game has joined the conversation.

Oh, my.

Villanova dismantled a very good Oklahoma team, 95-51, in the national semifinal game on Saturday night in NRG Stadium. The numbers on the box score are reflections from a fun-house mirror. The 44-point margin of victory is the largest in the 77-year history of the Final Four. The Wildcats' 71.4 percent shooting from the field is the second-best in Final Four history. The best? Well, that would be the 1985 game, when Villanova made 22 of 28 for 78.6 percent.

Maybe I'm looking through the wrong end of the binoculars because the smoke is still rising from this latest performance, but I was at both games, and I'll take this one.

One thing is certain: Villanova is going to play for the national championship again, and betting against a team this hot - regardless of the opponent - is perilous business.

"It was just one of those nights, and we were on the other end of it in December," guard Ryan Arcidiacono said, referring to a dismal 23-point loss to the Sooners in Hawaii. "They made everything, and we couldn't make a shot. Tonight, it seemed like anyone who took a shot, it was going in. It was definitely surreal."

It was real enough for Oklahoma, the No. 2 seed from the West Regional. It had Buddy Hield, the leading major-college scorer this season, and a consensus player of the year. He wasn't the player of the night, however. Villanova keyed its defense on stopping him and held him to just nine points, only the second time in 37 games he had been held under double figures.

"Villanova just dictated everything," Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger said.

As much as the offensive numbers will get attention, it was the defensive dictation that turned the game into a rout. Oklahoma hadn't scored fewer than 60 points this season and had averaged 81 points in its four previous NCAA tournament games, with Hield averaging 29 points in those games.

Wright brought the Wildcats out in man defense and stayed with it. Early on, he was also using a three-quarters-court trap, but that didn't work very well. Oklahoma was able to get up court against it and get some quick mismatches. The Sooners led, 17-16, when Villanova put away the trap entirely and focused on getting back and settling into its halfcourt defense. The Wildcats outscored them, 79-34, the rest of the way.

"We knew if we opened up the floor for them, they could take and make tough shots," Arcidiacono said. "We got out of it quick and locked into our halfcourt."

At halftime, with Villanova ahead by 14 points, Wright warned his team that Oklahoma would make a run, and that happened early, with the Sooners cutting the margin to nine points with 16 minutes to play. The only problem for the Sooners was they still hadn't figured out what to do about Villanova's offense.

"We came out a little better in the second half, but Villanova withstood that," Kruger said. "Then they popped us again."

The teams traded baskets for a few possessions, but Oklahoma wasn't capable of trading baskets with a team that would make 15 of 19 shots after the margin was cut to nine, including 5 of 7 three-pointers. Flailing, falling, and failing, the Sooners went 16 possessions without a field goal and, just that fast, the lead was 40 points and growing.

"That was just one of those games that can happen to anybody," Wright said. "I feel bad for Oklahoma that it happened to them in the Final Four."

If Villanova was going to play a game like this one, it would have happened to any team that got in the way on Saturday night. And, all respect to North Carolina, the same thing is going to happen on Monday night if the Wildcats would be able to replicate the Oklahoma game.

That's the trick, of course. It took 31 years the last time. Can near-perfection come around in just two days this time?

"There's something in me that those ['85] guys are so special, I don't want that team to ever lose their magic," Wright said. "But I'd love our team to do it."

Well, they've got a chance, which is more than you could say for Oklahoma on Saturday.