Michigan vs Villanova 4/2/18 - NCAA Championship Picks & Predictions

March Madness has reached its climax. Just two teams remain and on Monday April 2, the Michigan Wolverines will play the Villanova Wildcats in the NCAA Tournament National Championship game. Michigan won its Final Four game 69-57 over the Loyola-Chicago. The Wolverines trailed 29-22 at the half and by 10 points early in the second half, but stormed back with a pressure defense that caused turnovers on one end of the court and Moe Wagner and Charles Matthews providing the offense at the other end. Wagner led the Wolverines with 24 points and 15 rebounds while Matthews scored 17.

Villanova’s sharpshooters started early and kept raining three-pointers on the Kansas defense to waltz away with a 95-79 victory in its Final Four game. The Wildcats set a Final Four record with 18 made 3-pointers, shooting 45% from downtown for the game. Eric Paschall led the Wildcats in scoring with 24 points. Jalen Brunson finished with 18 points, while Omari Spellman scored 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Moritz (Moe) Wagner is the leader in scoring and rebounding for Michigan averaging 14.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. Charles Matthews is second in scoring and second in rebounding averaging 13.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. As a team, the Wolverines are shooting 46.8% from the field and 36.2% from 3-point territory. During the regular season, Michigan scored an average of 74.1 points per game while allowing an average of 63.1, which is 8th in the nation.

Jalen Brunson leads Villanova in scoring and assists averaging 19.2 points and 4.7 assists per game. Five other players for the Wildcats are averaging double figures in scoring as the Wildcats lead the nation points scored per game. Omari Spellman leads the team in rebounds averaging 7.9 per game. As a team, Villanova is shooting 50.1% from the field and 40.1% from 3-point territory. Villanova scores an average of 86.6 points per game, which is No. 1 in the nation, while allowing an average of 70.2.