OAKLAND, CALIF. – There are witnesses who will call Villanova's stirring last-shot victory Monday in Houston the greatest ever played in NCAA title game history, if only because they haven't lived long enough.

Timberwolves assistant coach Sidney Lowe admits he is biased, but also has perspective only passing time brings when he insists his North Carolina State's last-second upset of mighty Houston in 1983 remains the best.

Either way, Lowe said watching Monday's game — in which Kris Jenkins' buzzer-beating three trumped one North Carolina's Marcus Paige had made three seconds earlier — took him back in time.

"It did bring back memories," Lowe said. "Yes, it did. This one is going to be remembered for a long time because of a shot like that. That's going to go down for that young man's life. Even if he's in the NBA, people will still talk about that shot. A game like that changes lives."

Lowe watched at the team's San Francisco hotel with several Wolves players, including 2015 Final Four Most Outstanding Player Tyus Jones and center Karl-Anthony Towns. Jones said the game brought back "memories to last a lifetime" from his Duke team's title run, while Towns allowed himself to watch after he refused to do so last year when Wisconsin ended his Kentucky team's perfect season.

"It was nice to watch one again," Towns said. "I was hurting a little bit, but at the end of the day you just have to go with it and watch it. I'm glad I watched it because it ended up being one of the greatest national championship games in history."

Lowe

Towns honored again

Towns on Tuesday became the ninth NBA player named rookie of the month five consecutive months, including March. The others since the award began in 1981 make for an impressive list: Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Tim Duncan and David Robinson.

Towns called it an "honor" but said this month's trophy will go where all his other individual awards go: his parents' home in New Jersey.

"I'm not a big individual-award guy," he said. "I never keep any of mine. My parents like 'em. The only awards I keep in my house are my state high school championship rings and playing at Kentucky. If it's not a championship, it's not something I keep."

Izzo in attendance

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo attended Tuesday's game. In addition to discussing Warriors star and former Spartans forward Draymond Green, Izzo said he still has "a lot of faith" in Adreian Payne's career if he matures, plays more and plays smarter. He said still misses longtime pal Flip Saunders, too.

"I miss him a lot," Izzo said. "I miss everything he was about."