HOUSTON– It was the most dramatic finish I can remember in my 44 years of covering the NCAA basketball tournament championship game.

Better than Michael Jordan’s jump shot as a freshman with 19 seconds to play that lifted North Carolina to a 63-62 victory over Georgetown in 1982. Better than Lorenzo Charles’ dunk off an air ball at the buzzer when North Carolina State upset Houston, 54-52, in 1983. Better than the baseline jump shot Indiana guard Keith Smart’s made with two seconds left when Indiana defeated Syracuse, 74-73, in 1987.

Kris Jenkins gave Villanova its one shining moment here last night when he drained a deep three point jumper that sailed through the net at the buzzer as the Cats defeated Atlantic Coast Conference blue blood North Carolina, 77-74, at NRG Stadium to win the national championship.

“I got ice water in my veins,” the Cats’ 6-7, 230-pound junior forward screamed as he was mobbed by teammates after creating a moment that will forever etch his name in Villanova folklore.

The confident Jenkins trumped a dramatic double clutching three point jumper by North Carolina guard Marcus Paige as the Tar Heels roared back from 10 down to tie the game at 74-74 with 4.7 seconds to play. “I think every shot is going in and this is no different,” he said.

Jenkins’ memorable shot came after Villanova coach Jay Wright called timeout to draw up the final possession. It came on a play Villanova works on every day in practice. Jenkins inbounds the ball to guard Ryan Arcidiacono, who works it up court and senior center Daniel Ochefu sets a pick near half court to clutter things up, then Arcidiacono creates magic. “I wanted to be aggressive,” Arcidiacono said. “If I could get the shot, I was going to shoot it. But I heard someone screaming in the back of my head. It was Kris. I wanted that shot, but I had confidence in my teammates. Kris was able to knock down the shot.”

“Ryan Arcidiacono, he’s one of the best players I’ve ever played with,” Jenkins said. “For a senior to get the ball and make the right play and not try to shoot the ball in double coverage just shows a lot about him and what he’s about and how he’s just all about winning.”

Wright knew the ball was going in as soon as it left Jenkins hand, “Bang,” he said and then walked over to shake hands with Carolina Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams.

It was a heart breaking loss for the Tar Heels.

“I told my team when I made the shot, we go to overtime, we got 4.7 seconds to play defense and this game is ours,” Paige said. “No matter what, we were going to win the overtime ’cause that’s just the how the game was going to go. We had clawed back from down 10. At that point we believed we were going to win. We just needed 4.7 seconds of defense. It didn’t work out. Kris is their best three-point shooter. He got a pretty clean look for whatever reason. You know, there’s 75 possessions in the game. They just happened to get the last one and make the shot.”

Ironically had Carolina found a way to deny Arcidiacono the ball on the inbound pass,, the game likely would have gone into overtime.

But that’s not the way miracles work.

Ask former Villanova coach Rollie Massimino, who was in the house. He must had brought along some of that pixie dust he used when Villanova played a near perfect game to upset Georgetown, 66-64, in the 1985 national championship game.

Villanova showed the world that a small, private Catholic school from the new Big East can still compete toe to toe with the giants in the sport like Kentucky, Duke and North Carolina for college basketball’s biggest prize. Big East commissioner Val Ackerman was so visibly moved by the accomplishment of a team from her relatively new all basketball league, she had to fight to hold back the tears.

“What are they going to say about us now,” Jenkins yelled to a crowd of Villanova fans in the stands. “They have to give us our respect now.”

Jenkins made the biggest shot of his career with the bigger than life Jordan in the audience.
As long as Michael didn’t suit up for Carolina, the Cats were fine.

Villanova took its shooting to a whole new level in this tournament. At 58.2 percent, the Wildcats had the best field goal percentage in the NCAA tournament in 50 years. The Cats were at its best on the elevated court in this Texas-sized 75,000-seat NFL stadium that hass ahunted so many eams in the past.

The Cats shot a blistering 71,4 percent in Saturday’s 95-51 victory over Oklahoma in the national semi-finals, Then, they came back to shoot 58.3 percent and make 8 of 14 threes against Carolina. Sophomore guard Phil Booth– playing the role of Harold Jensen– came off the bench to shoot 6 for 7, make two threes and shoot a perfect 6 for 6 from the line to lead Villanova with 20 points. Arcidiacono, who was selected the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, contributed 16 points and Jenkins added 14. Paige scored 21 for Carolina.

“It’s unbelievable,” Arcidiacono said. “We just fought. At halftime, we said we needed to play 20 minutes of Villanova basketball and in the second half, we just fought. We made remarkable plays at the end of the game. I love this team.”

This is an easy team to love. They are unselfish over achievers, have a high basketball IQ and, like 1985, and relish the idea of being underdogs. Carolina had beaten Villanova three times in the tournament en route to championships in 1982, 2005 and 2009.

This time, the Cats limited the damage by holding the Tar Heels to just 38 percent shooting in the second half and outscoring them in the paint.

Having said that, the game still came down to the final seconds.

“This was one of the great college basketball games we’ve ever been a part of,” Wright said. “We all have great respect for North Carolina. We didn’t just beat a great team, which this team is, but a great program, classy program. Before they determined that shot was good, Roy came right up to me and said, I’m really disappointed for our guys, that was a great game, but I’m really happy for you. I know he means that. He’s a coach’s coach. He’s got a great team. Some of those seniors, Brice Johnson and Marcus Paige, were just great examples of what you want college basketball players to be. They played with class, won with class, and lost tonight with class. We have great respect and admiration for them.
“For our guys, you know, you’re like a parent when you’re a coach. I just couldn’t be prouder, couldn’t be happier to see them enjoy this and fulfill their dreams. That’s what it’s all about for a coach, just to see their eyes, to see their satisfaction, their enjoyment. There’s no better feeling in the world for a coach or a parent.”