Louisville's victory by the numbers

Perfection was the story for a Louisville team that lived up to its No. 1 overall seeding in the NCAA tournament.

The Cardinals won their third national title (against no defeats), keyed by a perfect shooting performance from long range by an unlikely source.

Let’s run through some of the statistical highlights of the Cardinals' first NCAA tournament championship since 1986.

The history

Louisville ended the season on a 16-game winning streak. The Cardinals became the eighth school to win at least three national championships and the third overall No. 1 seed to win a national championship.

The Cardinals went 27 years between title victories, the second-longest drought by a team that has won multiple championships (Kansas went 36 seasons).

Rick Pitino became the first coach to win a Division I title with two schools (he won with Kentucky in 1996). This was Pitino’s 664th career win, tying legendary coach John Wooden for 25th all time.

Louisville attempted 23 of its 35 second-half field goals in the paint, making 11 of those shots.

Peyton Siva and Chane Behanan combined to score 24 of Louisville’s 34 paint points, 18 of which came in the second half.

Siva’s 12 points in the paint were his second-most in any game in the last four NCAA tournaments (scored 14 in 2012 versus Davidson).

Also key: Louisville held Michigan to two second-chance points in the second half Monday after allowing 13 to the Wolverines in the first half.

Hancock’s perfection

Final Four Most Outstanding Player Luke Hancock finished with 22 points and was 5-for-5 from 3-point range.

That’s the most makes without a miss on 3-pointers in a Division I title game. The previous mark of three was shared by Taurean Green (2007 Florida) and Wayne Ellington (2009 North Carolina), each of whom won a national title that year.

Siva a difference-maker

Siva starred for Louisville, particularly in the second half.

His box score line put him in impressive championship company.

Siva finished with 18 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals, the first player to hit all of those benchmarks in a national championship game since steals became an official stat in 1986.

He's the first player with an 18-6-5 combo in a title game since Derrick Rose in 2008.

Burke, Michigan elite in defeat

Trey Burke became the third Wooden Award winner to lose in the national championship game. The other two players were Larry Bird and Elton Brand.

Michigan shot 52.1 percent from the field, the highest field goal percentage by a losing team in the national championship since Georgetown in 1985 (54.7 percent).

Early on, that was keyed by Spike Albrecht, who scored a career-high 17 points and went 4-for-5 from 3-point range. Albrecht went 9-for-10 from 3-point range in the tournament, just shy of matching Sam Cassell’s mark for most 3-pointers in a tournament without a miss (nine for Florida State in 1993).

Michigan fell to 1-5 all-time in national title games. The Wolverines' .167 winning percentage is the worst of any team with at least five championship game appearances. The five losses are third-most all time.

Source: ESPN

Numbers to Know: National title game

In a season of upsets and Cinderella stories, we are down to the final game of the season for the national title, pitting a team ranked second (Louisville) and a team ranked fifth (Michigan) in the AP preseason poll.

The last time we had a national championship game between two teams ranked in the top 5 of the AP preseason poll was 2008, when Kansas beat Memphis in overtime. Let’s hope Monday night’s contest between the Cardinals and Wolverines is just as exciting as that game five years ago.

It’s been a while

Both Michigan and Louisville are among the elite college basketball programs of the past several decades, but it’s been a while since either has hoisted the national championship trophy.

Louisville is appearing in its first title game since 1986, when Pervis Ellison led the Cardinals to the championship.

Michigan is in the final game for the first time since the Fab Five made back-to-back appearances in 1992-93 (which were later vacated), and is looking for its first title since 1989.

Strength vs. strength 

This is a classic strength vs. strength matchup between the nation’s top-ranked teams in adjusted offensive efficiency (Michigan) and adjusted defensive efficiency (Louisville), per Kenpom.com.

Louisville’s defense is built on a swarming press that forces turnovers on 27 percent of its opponents' possessions, the second-highest rate in the nation. However, its defensive turnover rate has been below 20 percent in each of its past three games of the tournament.

Michigan ranks first in Division I in offensive turnover percentage (14.5%) and has shown the ability to handle a pressure defense. The Wolverines had a turnover rate of 18 percent against VCU, which leads the country in defensive turnover percentage at 28 percent.

What’s at stake 

Michigan is trying to be the second No. 4 seed to win the national title. The other was Arizona in 1997, which defeated a top-seeded Kentucky team coached by Rick Pitino. 

The Wolverines are also trying to improve on their 1-4 record in national championship games, which is tied for the worst among all schools that have played at least three games.

Louisville is seeking to be the third No. 1 overall seed to win the title since the NCAA began the designation in 2004, joining Florida in 2007 and Kentucky last year. The Cardinals would also be the eighth school to win at least three national championships.

Rick Pitino is the fourth head coach to take multiple teams to the national championship game, along with Larry Brown, Frank McGuire and Roy Williams (John Calipari’s title game appearance with Memphis was vacated).

If Louisville wins, Pitino would be the first men’s coach in NCAA Division I history to win a national title with two different schools.

Source: ESPN