Donte DiVincenzo, Villanova’s 6th man, is Most Outstanding Player

Donte DiVincenzo wasn’t the favorite to win Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four between No. 1 Villanova and No. 3 Michigan Monday night. DiVincenzo doesn’t even start for Nova; he’s one of the better bench players in the country.

But you couldn’t tell him that under the brightest lights in college basketball when the sophomore guard lit into the Wolverines for 31 points in Nova’s 79-62 championship victory. DiVincenzo shot 10-of-15 from the field, including 4-of-8 from downtown. He went on two personal runs, including scoring 11 straight second-half points for Villanova in under 3:30.

DiVincenzo also had 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting along with eight rebounds and three assists off the bench in Villanova’s Final Four matchup against Kansas.

DiVincenzo’s National Championship performance goes down in college basketball lore. His 31 points were the most scored in a championship game since Miles Simon scored 30 for Arizona in 1997. His game also marked the most points ever scored by a bench player in NCAA National Championship Game history.

The timing of DiVincenzo buckets were also incredible. When the Wolverines cut Villanova’s lead down to 12, he came down the floor and hit back-to-back cold-blooded triples to keep Michigan at bay. His wink towards press row was maybe the best part.

DiVincenzo had the eighth longest Bovada odds to win Most Outstanding Player behind Jalen Brunson, Moritz Wagner, Mikal Bridges, Charles Matthews, Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, Omari Spellman and Eric Paschall.

When the betting lines opened, via Bovada.lv, Jalen Brunson of Villanova was the favorite at +240. The highest he moved to was -155. DiVincenzo had +1600 odds at winning the award.