2016 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship Game
| 2016 NCAA Tournament Championship Game | |||||||||||||
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| National Championship Game | |||||||||||||
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| Date | April 4, 2016 | ||||||||||||
| Arena | NRG Stadium | ||||||||||||
| Location | Houston, Texas | ||||||||||||
| Favorite | North Carolina by 2 | ||||||||||||
| Referee(s) | Michael Stephens, John Higgins, Terry Wymer | ||||||||||||
| Attendance | 74,340 | ||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||
| Network | TBS | ||||||||||||
| Announcers |
Jim Nantz (play-by-play) Bill Raftery and Grant Hill (color) Tracy Wolfson (sideline) |
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| Nielsen Ratings | 12.0 (17.8 million) | ||||||||||||
The 2016 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship Game was the final game of the 2016 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament and determined the national champion for the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The game was played on Monday, April 4, 2016, at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, between the Villanova Wildcats and the North Carolina Tar Heels.
The first half was closely fought, with neither team leading by more than five points in the first 19 minutes. After North Carolina briefly took a seven-point lead in the final minute, a field goal by Phil Booth for Villanova cut the lead to 39–34 at the break. Villanova started to gain the upper hand in the second half, taking their largest lead of the game, 67–57, with 4:47 remaining. North Carolina then surged back, setting up a heroic comeback in the final minutes. With just over 1:30 remaining, Marcus Paige hit a three pointer to cut the lead to three points. After Villanova turned over the ball, Brice Johnson cut the lead to one point. Booth was fouled and hit two free throws to retake a three-point lead. With 13 seconds remaining, the lead was again three points for Villanova. On the ensuing possession, Paige sunk an off-balance three-point field goal to tie the game with 4.7 seconds left. However, Ryan Arcidiacono found Kris Jenkins for a buzzer-beating, championship-winning three-point shot, with Villanova defeating North Carolina by a final score of 77–74.
After a 27–4 regular season and winning the 2016 Big East Conference regular season championship, Villanova beat Georgetown and Providence en route to the 2016 Big East Tournament Finals, where they would lose to Seton Hall. They were the #2 seed in the South Regional of the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
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