Villanova Clobbers Oklahoma, Rolls Into National Title Game With 44-Point Win

The Wildcats completely dominated the second half in a record-breaking win over Oklahoma. They’ll play for the national title on Monday night.

Villanova Wildcats guard Ryan Arcidiacono (15) reacts with guard Mikal Bridges (25) in the second half against the Oklahoma Sooners in the 2016 NCAA Men's Division I Championship semi-final game at NRG Stadium.

Villanova Wildcats guard Ryan Arcidiacono (15) reacts with guard Mikal Bridges (25) in the second half against the Oklahoma Sooners in the 2016 NCAA Men’s Division I Championship semi-final game at NRG Stadium.

The Oklahoma Sooners scored 51 points in the NCAA tournament semifinal on Saturday night. The Villanova Wildcats scored 53 in just the second half.

The game was back and forth for the first 10 minutes, then Villanova dominated Oklahoma for the last half hour. The result was a 95-51 Villanova victory, putting them in the National Championship Game for the first time since 1985. It was the largest margin of victory in Final Four history.

Josh Hart led Villanova with 23 points on 10-of-12 shooting. Six members of the Wildcats were in double figures. Villanova shot 71.4 percent for the game; it was the second-best shooting performance in Final Four history. The No. 1 performance is Villanova’s 78.6 percent in the 1985 National Championship Game.

Villanova held Oklahoma to just 23 points in the second half. Buddy Hield, who came into the game averaging 28.8 points a game, scored just 9. The Sooners’ 51 points were by far their lowest total of the season. They came into the game averaging 42.8 percent on threes; Villanova held them to just 6-for-27 from three-point range (22.2 percent).

Oklahoma led 17-16 when the Wildcats went on a 21-4 run in the first half to take a 16-point lead. Oklahoma cut the deficit to single digits four minutes into the second half, but Villanova went on a 33-4 run to effectively end the game.

The National Championship is on Monday night; Villanova will play the winner of North Carolina-Syracuse.

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