Villanova crushes Oklahoma by 44 points in Final Four semis

HOUSTON – Buddy Hield's perfect arc found only twine, drawing a roar from a packed NRG Stadium.

First shot, 23 seconds in, welcome to the Final Four, Buddy Hield Show.

Right?

Wrong.

In the 39-plus minutes that followed that three-point rainbow, Hield didn't look like even a shadow of himself. Villanova, locked in defensively from the start, smothered the super shooter like a biscuit under Texas gravy and filled the void with a historic, basketball clinic-like performance.

The result? Villanova's complete bludgeoning of fellow No. 2 seed Oklahoma, 95-51 in the biggest bloodbath in Final Four history.

The Wildcats (34-5), aided by a blistering night from Josh Hart in the first national semifinal Saturday, advanced to the title game for the first time since 1985 when they seized the program's only championship.

"We had one of those games where we just made every shot," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "It was simply one of those nights."

That's for sure.

Playing as close to perfectly as this tournament has seen, Villanova shot 71.4 percent from the floor and held Oklahoma (29-8) to 31.7 percent shooting while relegating Hield to mostly an observer and the game's final 13 minutes to a mere navy-and-white shootaround. The Wildcats finished on an almost unfathomable 41-10 run.

Hield was held to nine points, missing his final seven three-point attempts after making that first one. Instead, the nation was introduced to a new form of entertainment, the Josh Hart Show. The Wildcats guard finished with 23 points on 10-for-12 shooting to go along with eight rebounds, four assists and two steals.

With the Wildcats already threatening to put Oklahoma away before halftime, Hart drilled a three-pointer with nine seconds left on the clock, clenching his fists, screaming upward toward the dome's peak and sending Villanova into the break with a 42-28 advantage.

"I was able to get a couple shots to fall," Hart said. "When that happened, I was able to kick out a little bit, get guys shots. I definitely wanted to come in being aggressive and just try to help them make the right play."

And that was before the real bruising began in the second half, when Villanova had its way inside, outside and everywhere in between, a stretch Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger called "embarrassing."

Six Villanova players scored in double digits, and all six made more than half their attempts. Kris Jenkins had 18 points and eight rebounds for Villanova, shooting 6-for-10 from the floor and 4-for-7 from three-point range. Ryan Arcidiacono added 15 points on 5-for-6 shooting, 3-for-4 from long range.

A more complete turnaround from the pair's last meeting could not have even been planned by the Wildcats.

Four months earlier, Oklahoma ran over Villanova with a 23-point rout in Honolulu on the strength of 14 three-pointers on 26 attempts. On Saturday, Villanova showed Houston and the rest of the basketball world how much better it is now.

After Hield's initial three, it looked as if Houston fans might be treated to an offensive firestorm despite early warnings that the spacious stadium's long sight lines might mess up shooters. But after taking a 17-16 lead, Oklahoma went cold, going scoreless for nearly six minutes while Villanova reeled off a 12-0 run.

That was nothing compared with what happened in the second half, when Villanova scored 25 consecutive points to turn a 13-point game into a record blowout.

"When you have guys like [these teammates], you can go off any night," Hart said.