The Villanova Wildcats defeated Northern Iowa on Friday, 64-50, to become champs in the 2017 Battle 4 Atlantis tournament.
It was one of the more exciting early-season college basketball tournaments that takes place over the Thanksgiving holiday, with the seventh annual Battle 4 Atlantis event at Imperial Arena at Atlantis Paradise Island in Nassau, Bahamas.
The event was headlined by a pair of top-five Wildcats teams and Final Four hopefuls in No. 5 Villanova and No. 2 Arizona. Villanova is highlighted by a trio of guards in Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges and Donte DiVincenzo. Arizona is led by scoring machine Allonzo Trier at guard, who is joined this year by freshman center Deandre Ayton, from the Bahamas.
Arizona was one of two ranked teams to fall on the tournament’s first day, trailing for nearly the entire game against North Carolina State. No. 18 Purdue, the reigning Big Ten regular season champ, also lost on Wednesday, felled by Tennessee in overtime.
The Wildcats’ slump continued throughout their trip to the Bahamas, dropping all three games, including a 25-point loss to Purdue on Friday. The No. 2 Wildcats finished dead last in the tournament.
Teams
Bracket
The teams will play 12 games over three days, with each team playing three games.
Television/Online
The 12-game tournament will be televised by the ESPN family of networks, spread across ESPN and ESPN2 on television, plus ESPN3 online. Every game is available for streaming on WatchESPN.
Schedule
All times ET
Wednesday, Nov. 22
Game 1: Tennessee 78, Purdue 75, OT
Game 2: Villanova 66, Western Kentucky 58
Game 3: North Carolina St. 90, Arizona 84 (recap)
Game 4: Northern Iowa 61, SMU 58
Thursday, Nov. 23
Game 5: Villanova 85, Tennessee 76 (recap)
Game 6: Northern Iowa 64, North Carolina St. 60
Game 7: Western Kentucky 77, Purdue 73 (recap)
Game 8: SMU 66, Arizona 60
Friday, Nov. 24
Game 9 (Championship Game): Villanova 64, Northern Iowa 50 (recap)
Game 10 (third place Game): Tennessee 67, North Carolina St. 58
Game 11 (5th place Game): Western Kentucky 63, SMU 61
Game 12 (7th place Game): Purdue 89, Arizona 64