Despite having both the national Player of the Year favorite and the man who hit arguably the biggest shot in NCAA tournament history on its roster, it was a freshman reserve scoring his only basket of the day who played hero for Villanova on Sunday.
No. 1 Villanova tops No. 12 Virginia on buzzer-beating tip
Donte DiVincenzo’s only made field goal came on a tip-in that left his hands with 0.2 seconds remaining, but it made all the difference in the world in the top-ranked Wildcats’ 61-59 triumph over visiting Virginia.
The Cavaliers, ranked No. 12 in the current AP Poll, led for virtually the entire game and by as many as 13 in the second half. That’s when Josh Hart, Mikal Bridged, and Jalen Brunson went to work, spearheading a furious rally that set the stage for DiVincenzo’s heroics.
Villanova, which lost at Marquette earlier this week, secured the huge victory despite a dismal shooting night for two of its three leading scorers. Hart scored 12 points but was just 2-of-9 from the field, while 2016 championship game hero Kris Jenkins connected on only two of his 10 field goal attempts, and was held to single figures in scoring for the second time in as many games.
Virginia’s defeat put a cap on a crazy week in which an astounding 11 of the teams ranked in the top 14 of the latest AP Poll suffered at least one defeat.
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