Villanova destroyed Oklahoma by a 95-51 score in the first national semifinal of the Final Four on Saturday night. With their victory, the most lopsided ever in a Final Four, Jay Wright’s Wildcats advanced to face either North Carolina or Syracuse in the national championship game Monday night.
Villanova vs. Oklahoma 2016, Final Four results: Wildcats crush Sooners in national semifinal, 95-51
The Wildcats turned in a dominant Final Four effort against the Sooners.
To win, the Wildcats jumped to a double-digit halftime lead with a late-first-half spurt, then poured it on after the break. They went on a 25-0 run during the second half, turning the contest into a complete bloodbath.
Villanova came after the Sooners with a balanced scoring attack, typical of its efficient offense all season. Six Wildcats reached double figures, headlined by 23 points for guard Josh Hart, 18 for forward Kris Jenkins and 15 for guard Ryan Arcidiacono.
For the night, Villanova shot 71 percent from the field and 61 percent on three-pointers, while Oklahoma’s figures were 32 and 22 percent, respectively. It was a comprehensive destruction by Villanova.
Also critically, the Wildcats did an effective job on defense against Oklahoma guard Buddy Hield. The Sooners’ star had averaged 29 points per game in his first four games of the NCAA Tournament, but the Wildcats defended him aggressively and contained the damage he could do. Hield had 9 points on a hard-knock 4-of-12 shooting.
Villanova took control of the game during a prolonged run in the middle of the first half. The teams swapped leads 11 times in the early going, but the Wildcats kicked into high gear after a bunch of early basket-trading. The Sooners led, 17-16, after eight minutes, before Villanova mounted a 12-0 run over the next five. The Wildcats only kept pushing, eventually finishing the first half on a 26-11 run. It was 42-28 after 20 minutes -- the Sooners’ biggest halftime deficit all year.
Oklahoma came out for the second half with some energy. Just like he’d done earlier in the first half, Hield scored the first bucket, and Oklahoma got a nice jolt on a brilliant de-facto four-point play from guard Jordan Woodard. But the Sooners had trouble stringing together made shots, and Villanova just wouldn’t miss.
Hield never fully got going. Oklahoma’s frustration never ended, and the Wildcats were able to keep the cushion they built during the first half and then add to it – by a lot.
Villanova just kept churning. The Wildcats’ shots kept falling, and they even dropped the best deep ball of the night on one of the country’s blue-blood football schools.
It became clear with well more than 10 minutes left that this wasn’t Oklahoma’s night.
It was Villanova’s, though, and now the Wildcats are 40 minutes away from the second national championship in program history.
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