NEW YORK — Villanova attacked, and Michigan countered. Then Michigan attacked, and Villanova countered. With 30 seconds left, they found themselves in a one-point game, and it wasn’t clear which attack came first.
But it was Villanova’s that came last — a stone-cold block of sophomore forward Zak Irvin at the rim with four seconds left to help lead the Wildcats to a 60-55 win in the Legends Classic championship game Monday night.
Villanova took its first lead in more than 10 minutes with forward JayVaughn Pinkston’s dunk with 1:09 to play, but Michigan had an answer when junior guard Caris LeVert drove for a layup with 50 seconds left.
The Wildcats retook the lead with Pinkston’s jumper with 13 seconds to go. And then it came down to Michigan junior guard Spike Albrecht on the baseline with 7.8 seconds to play.
Albrecht found Irvin wide open under the basket, but Pinkston rose up and blocked him.
“They had three or four of those rim-protecting type of plays today, three big blocks where I think we had really good leverage,” said Michigan coach John Beilein. “We had the basket, but their guys came out of nowhere to take it away from us.”
Villanova guard Ryan Arcidiacono hit two free throws with four seconds left, and Michigan senior forward Max Bielfeldt overthrew the ensuing inbounds pass to allow the Wildcats to ice the game.
Early in the second half, nothing came easily for Michigan. First, it got trapped in the corner with 17:25 left, so the Wolverines called timeout. Then, freshman forward Kameron Chatman couldn’t get the ball in, so Michigan called timeout again. And even then, it almost turned the ball over, as Villanova tipped the inbounds pass out of bounds.
“When it was 33-20 — actually, at the end of the first half — I sensed at that time we had doubts whether we could win the game,” Beilein said. “I’m really proud of how their spirit changed. We made a couple shots, and all of a sudden we became a different team. It bodes well for the future that we could get off the bottom a little bit — we hadn’t been down in games — to be down like that and be able to come back.”
The turnaround started when Irvin and LeVert hit back-to-back jumpers, and a strong Michigan contingent at the Barclays Center implored the Wolverines to get back in the game.
And then Irvin slammed home a two-handed dunk, and the crowd rose to its feet.
And then Albrecht hit a 3-pointer to give Michigan the lead. And the crowd erupted.
Then, it was Michigan that threatened to run away with the game.
Just a few minutes earlier, Pinkston pickpocketed LeVert, and Michigan’s junior guard didn’t even bother chasing after him. He was gone, and the Wildcats had their largest lead of the game. But a young Michigan team turned things around quickly, and that deficit soon evaporated.
“It all started with our energy,” LeVert said. “We got some stops, got into transition, got a couple easy baskets — a 3-pointer, I think — but it all started with defense.”
Villanova’s 15-0 run started in the first half, during which Michigan shot just 8-for-27 from the floor, got outrebounded and turned the ball over seven times.
Its big men — usually either Bielfeldt, redshirt freshman Mark Donnal or freshman Ricky Doyle — gave away five of its seven first-half turnovers. Sophomore guards Derrick Walton Jr. and Zak Irvin had trouble shooting early on, going a combined 2-for-11, and 1-for-7 from 3-point range, before the break. Each of them missed a couple open looks, and when Irvin faked and drove to evade a charging defender, nothing came of it.
“In the first half, they really did a good job defensively, getting into us a little bit and trying to take us out of what we wanted to do,” Albrecht said. “But at halftime, we made some adjustments, and I thought we were running the offense really good in the second half.”
After LeVert hit two 3-pointers in a one-minute span, Michigan led, 20-18, with seven minutes left in the first half. Those would be the last points it would get before the break.
All that mattered, though, were the last points of the second half. Those went to Villanova. And for the first time all night, the Wolverines had no answer.