LEXINGTON, Kentucky - People must have thought it was an April Fool's joke, or at the very least a misprint. How could Villanova have beaten Georgetown? And they held them to only 64 points? Are we sure that isn't supposed to say 84?
The Georgetown Hoyas were certainly loaded in 1985. The defending national champions, they had been ranked No. 1 nearly all season and were 35-2 entering the national championship game in Lexington. With Patrick Ewing, the consensus national player of the year, they seemed unbeatable.
Villanova, meanwhile, entered the newly expanded NCAA tournament as an 8 seed, having finished fourth in the Big East, including two losses to those very Hoyas. But they started doing some damage in the tournament, beating No. 2 Michigan, No. 8 North Carolina, and No. 5 Memphis State on their way to an unexpected place in the championship game.
Villanova won games by slowing the game down. In the final season before the institution of the shot clock, they hadn't scored 60 points in a single NCAA tournament game heading into the championship. Against Georgetown, many people thought the Wildcats would have to play the perfect game to win. They took that advice to heart.
Missing only five shots in the first half, Villanova entered halftime with a surprising 29-28 lead. Inspired, they kept up the near flawless play in the second half, shooting 90 percent from the floor in the final 20 seconds. Going up against a near-perfect performance, it's amazing Georgetown was able to stay in the game, but they did, trailing only 61-58 with 41 seconds remaining. Forced to foul, the Hoyas watched the Wildcats sink five clutch free throws in the final 41 seconds to clinch a stunning 66-64 victory.
The shooting stats for Villanova were mind-boggling. The 90 percent shooting in the second half gave them a 78.9 percent shooting rate for the game, which is still a single-game record for any NCAA tournament game. Nobody on their team missed more than two field goals or more than one free throw. The Hoyas lost despite taking almost twice as many shots as Villanova, while the Wildcats went a stunning 22-for-27 from the free-throw line.
Villanova had played the perfect game, and in the process became the lowest-seeded team to ever win the national championship. And that's no joke.
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