Villanova and North Carolina will face off tonight in the national title game of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament at NRG Stadium in Houston.
Roy Williams and the Tar Heels will be trying to capture their sixth national championship and first since 2009. Villanova, led by Jay Wright, will be playing for its first national championship since the Cinderella 1985 team downed Georgetown.
Here's a closer look at each team, beginning with the shooting performances during this year's tournament:
First, Villanova:
And North Carolina:
Here's a pair of side-by-side statistical comparisons of the teams:
Here's a preview of the national championship game:
Villanova vs. North Carolina
It was an anticlimactic Final Four in a lot of ways, as both teams won by double-digit margins. Second-seeded Villanova buried Oklahoma by a record 44-point margin, while top-seeded North Carolina stemmed the tide late in a big win over Cinderella story Syracuse.
Players to watch: Josh Hart was tremendous in the Final Four win for the Wildcats, sinking 10-of-12 shots for a game-high 23 points. He also added eight rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals. Joel Berry II did a bit of everything for the Tar Heels on Saturday night, scoring 8 points with 10 assists and seven rebounds. Berry was 4-of-9 from the field.
Key stats: Villanova’s 44-point win over Oklahoma in the Final Four is the largest in national semifinal history. The largest previous margin of victory before Villanova’s over Oklahoma on Saturday was a 34-point win for Cincinnati over Oregon State in 1962 and Michigan State over Pennsylvania in 1979. The Wildcats won the national title in 1984-85; the Wildcats lost the title game in 1970-71. The Wildcats went on a 25-0 run to blow the Final Four game against Oklahoma wide open. Villanova held star Oklahoma guard Buddy Hield to just 9 points -- his second-lowest total of the season in his final collegiate game. Villanova is 1-1 all-time in title games; North Carolina is 5-4. North Carolina has won five national titles; the Tar Heels beat Villanova in three of those tournaments. This is North Carolina’s third trip to the title game under head coach Roy Williams; The Tar Heels are 11-4 in the all-time series dating back to 1949-50. North Carolina missed 11 straight 3-pointers in the Final Four matchup with Syracuse. The Tar Heels beat the Orange for the third time this season in Saturday night’s Final Four win.
