A decade ago, Villanova won its second national basketball title and pushed its name into the spotlight

Villanova’s 2015-16 season was defined by its final 4.7 seconds.

Villanova was tied with North Carolina after Tar Heels guard Marcus Paige hit a late, off-balance three-pointer in the national championship game on April 4, 2016.

Then, Ryan Arcidiacono brought the ball up the court and, without hesitation, pitched the ball to Kris Jenkins. After a quick two-step, Jenkins nailed a buzzer-beating three-pointer — now known as “The Shot” — to win the national championship, 77-74.

It’s been 10 years since Villanova won its first national title since 1985. While many remember Jenkins’ historic buzzer-beater from that season, the buildup to the confetti falling in Houston was not easy.

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“We had a losing season [in 2011-12], and as a staff, we were committed to just getting back to our core values of Villanova basketball,” former coach Jay Wright told The Inquirer. “We were happy about where we were because we were playing that way. And at the same time, we had lost two years in a row in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. So there was, kind of, pressure from the outside that we got to get past the second round.”

Villanova was a No. 1 seed in the 2015 NCAA Tournament with a 32-2 regular season record and a No. 2 seed in the 2014 NCAA Tournament with a 28-4 record. After losing in the second round of the tournament in both seasons, media and college basketball fans began to question if Wright was a championship-caliber coach.

“It felt good to get [Wright] over the hump after he had been criticized and crushed for not being able to get over the hump, not being able to coach in these big games, being known as a choker and things of that nature,” Jenkins told The Inquirer. “It felt good to get that monkey off his back because despite what anybody may say, as a competitor, that type of stuff definitely annoys you.”

Villanova easily strung together a seven-game winning streak to open the 2015-16 season; its smallest margin of victory was 14 points.

Then the program traveled the farthest it would that season — 6,108 miles — to Bloch Arena on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam near Honolulu to play then-No. 7 Oklahoma in the Pearl Harbor Classic.

The Wildcats were handily defeated, 78-55, by the Sooners for their first loss of the season. Villanova connected on just 20 of 63 field-goal attempts (31.7%) for their season’s second-worst shooting performance.

“When we lost in Hawaii against Oklahoma, that was probably about as bleak as I kind of thought it could be that year,” Wright said. “It wasn’t just that we got beaten. We got manhandled. And I was shocked that we could play like that. It turned out they were a Final Four team, but you didn’t know that at the time. So that loss was kind of devastating and really humbling. We came out of that game knowing we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Villanova eventually crushed Oklahoma in the Final Four, 95-51. The 44-point win marked the largest margin of victory in Final Four history.

Villanova returned to the NCAA Tournament that season for the fourth consecutive year and 14th time in the last 15 seasons.

The Wildcats dominated their first three opponents, winning each game by double digits. They took care of Miami in the Sweet 16, 92-69, with 21-point performances from Arcidiacono and Jenkins.

Jenkins was a rebound shy of a double-double and shot 5-for-6 (83.3%) on three-pointers. It was his best three-point shooting performance of the season.

“We played some great teams on that run,” Wright said. “Miami was a great team. I remember Kris Jenkins pulling up from like 35 feet and just thinking, ‘What the hell is he doing?’ And he was drilling shots in that game. It was ridiculous.”

Villanova had to defeat three teams in a row that were ranked No. 1 on the Associated Press poll at some point during the season.

First up was Kansas. The back-and-forth battle ended in Villanova’s favor, 64-59.

Oklahoma was next. Recall: The Sooners previously had handed Villanova its largest margin of defeat all season.

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At this point, though, Villanova was ready for anyone. That was, until freshman Donte DiVincenzo, who just recovered from a broken foot, threw off that confidence in practice.

“Going into the game against Oklahoma, we had Donte DiVincenzo simulate Buddy Hield in practice for Oklahoma,” Wright said. “Hield lit us up when we played him early in the year. And we couldn’t stop Donte DiVincenzo. So we went into that Oklahoma game thinking like, ‘Wow, we can’t stop Donte DiVincenzo, man.’ We were really concerned going into that game, but I think it gave us a real healthy fear that made us play at another level.”

Villanova beat Oklahoma in almost every statistical category and outscored the Sooners by 30 points in the second half.

Villanova entered the national title game against North Carolina as the underdog.

While the Wildcats kept it close, the Tar Heels pulled away toward the end of the first half. North Carolina led by seven points and was going for nine when Josh Hart chased down and blocked Justin Jackson. Phil Booth then made a difficult midrange jump shot to cut Villanova’s deficit to five as the first-half clock expired.

Booth finished with a season-high 20 points, shooting 6-for-7 from the field, including 2-for-2 in three-pointers.

Villanova led by 10 points with five minutes remaining, but North Carolina quickly erased its lead. It all came down to the final seconds.

Daniel Ochefu almost stole the ball from Paige, but Paige got around him. He went to take the three-pointer and was met with a hand from Arcidiacono. Paige seemingly floated in midair, swung the ball around, and made the shot to tie the game.

After Paige’s shot, every Villanova player went into the huddle knowing what the final play of the game was: “Nova.”

Wright ran the play several times that season in practice, with different scenarios, defensive sets, and score margins.

The play wasn’t for Jenkins. It was for Arcidiacono to bring the ball up court, have Ochefu set a screen, and either shoot or pass the ball to Booth in the corner.

However, Jenkins yelled “Arch, Arch, Arch!” in a loud NRG Stadium, and Arcidiacono heard and saw him. He pitched it to Jenkins to shoot the championship-winning shot.

“Never in practice did he ever run behind me and get in my line of vision for me to pass him the ball,” Arcidiacono said of Jenkins. “But for him to have the wherewithal, thinking back of all the times he ran in practice, and he noticed that he might have a chance to get in my line of vision to give me another option. It’s just so smart of him.”

Jenkins thought of it coming out of the huddle and mentioned to Arcidiacono that he might be open.

“My whole thought process was get the ball in, no turnovers, and then get in Arch’s line of vision so that I could give him another option,” Jenkins said. “Because it’s time to win the game. This isn’t the end-of-the-half type of situation. This is to get a good-quality shot at the end of the national championship. So I just wanted to be another option. And, thankfully, I did.”

The shot is a symbol of the Wright era. It represents the payoff from years of gunning for a championship and falling short. It changed how Villanova is viewed on a national level, and not just in basketball.

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“When the shot went in, there was kind of a relief that was a weight on my shoulders that I never knew was there,” Wright said. “I never really felt it, but after winning it, it was just kind of a relief. I was so happy for everybody at Villanova to experience that again.

“We all did in 1985, and I always thought that was the greatest thing that ever happened to Villanova. And I honestly didn’t even think about it happening again. I was just trying to make us the best program we could be.”