Wisconsin beat Villanova to become the Giant Slayer of March Madness

At the beginning of the 2017 March Madness tournament, Villanova still reigned as the No. 1 team in the country. It won 31 games during the season, the most ever by a reigning national champion entering the Big Dance. Its offense ranked second in the country. Its defense, once denigrated, had become stingy after their regular season loss to Butler. The Wildcats had a core of All-American Josh Hart, 2016 national championship game hero Kris Jenkins, and sophomore Jalen Brunson. They were well-disciplined, fierce, and unforgiving — the Giant of College Basketball.

There were others who pretended they could match the Giant’s might. Duke was brilliant in fits this season, but its fall at the hands of South Carolina befit the mercurial temperament of its leader. Nobody was as unsullied as Villanova, which grew larger and prouder as it collected wins like trophy hides.

When the Giant got a hold of 16th-seeded Mount St. Mary’s in the first round, it was sadistic. The Giant refused to score within the first six minutes of the game and lured the Mountaineers into a false sense of security. The Mountaineers scored point after point and led for most of the first half. The Giant, gleeful in its own invincibility, feigned injury to stoke its opponent’s persistent hope. Donte DiVincenzo even botched a few dunks to add to this mockery.

The hope of escaping, of slaying the monster, was too enticing.

A few minutes into the second half, Villanova tired of the game and cornered smaller, weaker Mount St. Mary’s. It force its opponent to take contested three-pointers. The Wildcats were too big, too fast, and too brutal for the ‘Eers’ tired defense. The Giant let the bloodied and dying foe plead for an end to its suffering, then mercilessly bludgeoned it to a 20-point blowout. Everyone in the Land of College Basketball saw this cruelty and shuddered in fright.

The next day, No. 8-seed Wisconsin were at the town hall where the people were sitting in council about the Giant. There was fear that Villanova would keep marching through the land in barbarous fashion. They could become the first team in 10 years to repeat as champions. Groans and cries filled the building. Men and women tore at their hair, and their children ran wild.

Wisconsin rose and asked: “What reward will be given to the team that slays Villanova?” When the people saw that it was the same Wisconsin that was recently blown out by the Michigan Wolverines — that was led by Nigel Hayes, who had regressed from his junior year — they erupted in laughter.

“It is hilarious to suggest that you could take down Villanova,” they said. “Please, don’t ruin the few brackets that still remain intact.”

But Wisconsin would not be deterred. The people, realizing this, consented: “If you are to succeed in your recklessness, then what awaits you is the Sweet Sixteen, a chance to finally win this tournament in the modern era, and the title of Giant Slayer. The world will know your name.”

Wisconsin responded: “Then let me undertake this impossibility.”

So Wisconsin, with nothing to lose, set out to Buffalo, New York, a wretched and terrible, awful — just awful — tundra where the Giant was last spotted.

The Giant saw Wisconsin approaching from afar, but because of its bad eyesight, it could not make out exactly who had come. At first it thought that this newcomer was like all the others, something to be beaten and devoured, another overambitious and ill-fated weakling. But then a sudden panic came over it, the thought that it could lose again in the second round. What if this was Connecticut returned? It had to make sure. Squinting hard, it managed to make out the colors: Red and white! No! a NC State again!

Villanova roared at its old enemy: “You incorrigible villain, are you come here to disturb my rest? You shall pay dearly for this.”

The Giant jumped to its feet and ran to engage its foe, but once it landed the first blow with a Hart jumper and realized that it was not NC State, it grinned from ear to ear. A satisfied ease came over it. There was no need to worry. Wisconsin, sensing this carelessness, tied the game with a Vitto Brown three-pointer and then took the lead after an Ethan Happ free throw. Wisconsin led at halftime but the Giant was comfortable in the knowledge of its superiority, just as it had been against Mount St. Mary’s.

So it happened that the Giant took the lead in the second half. But there was something peculiar this time. Every blow that it dealt, Wisconsin responded in kind. The ambitious lower seed would not bend to the Giant’s will. Every lead that Villanova built, Wisconsin cut into it. Even when Villanova goaded Wisconsin into a silly foul with 37 seconds left, DiVincenzo could only split the free throws.

Knowing that one of them must lose on this fateful day, and sensing glory at hand, Wisconsin summoned up its last strength and lunged at the Giant. Villanova was hunched over and contemplating its own mortality. For the first time in a long time, it sensed that it could lose. When it looked up, the eighth seed was upon it. In a blind panic, the Giant flung its arms wildly, wanting nothing more than to be done with the pest.

Wisconsin ran in front of the Giant to get its attention. When the Giant saw red, it charged and tried to use all of its strength to smother its enemy. Wisconsin deftly sidestepped and plunged a dagger into the Giant’s neck.

Villanova fell to its knees. Its vision drew hazy and dim. With its last bit of life, the Giant swung its arm at the celebrating figure before it, but that too was in vain. Another sharp bite of the blade followed. A free throw by Vitto Brown. The fight was over.