North Carolina and Villanova have dominated their opponents on the way to Monday night’s NCAA championship. Which has the edge in the final? USA TODAY Sports college basketball writer Nicole Auerbach analyzes the matchup.
Backcourt
Ever since Marcus Paige snapped out of his slump, North Carolina’s backcourt has looked terrific. Paige, Joel Berry II and Nate Britt are all capable ballhandlers who can get hot from three. But they can also be streaky and, at worst, cold.
Villanova’s backcourt features three of the best — yet underappreciated — guards in the country. Ryan Arcidiacono, the heart and soul of this team, is an excellent decision-maker who can create for himself and others. Jalen Brunson has fit in with the veteran group seamlessly, and anyone who watched Saturday’s semifinal knows how dangerous Josh Hart can be.
► EDGE: Villanova
Frontcourt
Both teams can play inside-out, and they can do it well. But there remains some uncertainty surrounding the status of Villanova’s Daniel Ochefu’s ankle, which could limit his effectiveness and availability Monday night.
North Carolina has no such injury concerns, with Brice Johnson — who averages a double-double — and Kennedy Meeks dominating in the paint. The Tar Heels are also one of the nation’s best offensive rebounding teams in the country, which could be a huge problem for Villanova’s bigs, who did not do particularly well on the glass in their national semifinal against Oklahoma.
► EDGE: North Carolina
Coaching
Villanova’s Jay Wright will coach in his first national championship game. North Carolina’s Roy Williams has coached in four title games, winning two (2005, 2009). If Williams wins this one, too, he’ll surpass Dean Smith — an incredible feat.
And it won’t have come easy for Williams, who has battled health issues all season and a storm cloud of an ongoing NCAA investigation into widespread academic fraud that’s followed the program for years.
Neither of those things have seemingly had any impact on Williams’ coaching on the court, though; he calls that his salvation. And he’s been pretty happy with what’s happened there.
► EDGE: North Carolina
Intangibles
Does destiny count? There’s just something special going on with these Wildcats.
They blitzed Oklahoma by 44 points, the most lopsided game in Final Four history. And they did that by shooting 71.4% from the field; the only team that’s ever shot better than that in the Final Four is the 1985 Villanova team that played the so-called Perfect Game to upset Georgetown and win the program’s first national championship.
It would be pretty perfect (again) if this is the team that wins the second title.
► EDGE: Villanova
And the winner will be ...
North Carolina
