NCAA Championship 2018: Three takeaways from Villanova's rout of Michigan

Villanova is the national champion once again. The Wildcats won their second title in three years, only this one came much easier than in 2016 as they took down Michigan 79-62 Monday behind 31 points from Donte DiVincenzo off the bench.

The Wildcats got down by as much seven in the first half, but after trailing 21-14 with 11 minutes left in the first stanza, Villanova outscored the Wolverines 23-7. They carried that momentum into the second half and ultimately locked up yet another double-digit win.

Jay Wright's team became the first since North Carolina in 2009 to win every one of their NCAA Tournament games by at least 10 points.
Every bit of their success Monday though started with DiVincenzo and their mature roster of players.

1. Redshirt at night, Wildcats delight

While most of the attention in college basketball is on the one-and-dones, for Villanova, it's the men who decided to stay and even took a redshirt year, who locked up the team's second national title in three years.

DiVincenzo, a redshirt sophomore, dug Villanova out of an offensive funk in the first half scoring 18 of the team's first 32 points. He also blocked a shot with each hand on one play. Not with two hands, with each hand.

DONTE COMING IN LIKE AN INFERNO!!! 😱😱😱#LetsMarchNova #NationalChampionship pic.twitter.com/Yzd64hKT0S
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) April 3, 2018

He finished with a game-high 31 on 5-of-7 shooting from 3-point range. But as good as he was, Miles Bridges, a redshirt junior, really asserted himself in the second half as did Omari Spellman, a redshirt freshman. Villanova's players simply have seen more practice time than other teams. It's almost unfair.

2. Michigan really needed Charles Matthews, they didn't get him

Charles Matthews has been a stabilizing force for the Wolverines all year long. He was their second-leading scorer (13.1) and their second-leading rebounder (5.6), but he simply didn't have his best game Monday.

Not only did he struggle from the field, but in the early going he had a chance to put Michigan up 8-4, but he missed two free throws. Just a couple of possessions later he got a steal but then missed a layup. Finally, he missed another couple of free throws in the second half when his team really needed any kind of points. He finished 0 for 4 from the line.

Matthews' decision to transfer to Michigan from Kentucky was great for both him and the Wolverines, but Monday was not his best night.

3. Not the team to give second chances

Villanova was the No. 1 team in the nation in offensive efficiency this year scoring 1.198 points per possession. They lead the nation in scoring offense as well. They know how to score and they score a lot when they get chances, so they cannot be given second and third opportunities.

Michigan gave the Wildcats loads of extra opportunities on the night as Villanova grabbed 12 offensive rebounds. As a result, the Wildcats took a couple more shots than the Wolverines, but when Villanova really separated they had taken eight more shots. This is a stat head coach John Beilein is going to bring up in his postgame press conference and for good reason. Villanova is simply too good to give second chances