1985 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game

See also: 1985 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

1985 NCAA Tournament Championship Game
National championship game
A blue circle with white "NCAA" in the middle
Villanova Wildcats Georgetown Hoyas
Big East Big East
(24–10) (35–2[1])
66 64
Head coach:
Rollie Massimino		 Head coach:
John Thompson
1st half2nd half Total
Villanova Wildcats 2937 66
Georgetown Hoyas 2836 64
DateApril 1, 1985
VenueRupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky
MVPEd Pinckney, Villanova
FavoriteGeorgetown by 9.5[2]
RefereesJohn Clougherty, Bobby Dibbler, Don Rutledge[3]
Attendance23,124
United States TV coverage
NetworkCBS[4]
AnnouncersBrent Musburger and Billy Packer[5]
← 1984
1986 →

The 1985 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game was the final of the 1985 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and determined the national champion in the 1984–85 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The game was held on April 1, 1985, at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky. The Georgetown Hoyas, the defending national champions and the tournament's number one seed from the East region, faced the Villanova Wildcats, the eighth seed from the Southeast region. The teams came from the same conference, the Big East, and the championship game was the third meeting between them in 1984–85, after two regular season contests.

Villanova defeated Georgetown by a score of 66–64 to win their first-ever national championship, in what is considered by analysts to be one of the biggest upsets in tournament history. The Wildcats had the highest field goal percentage in Final Four history,[6] winning their first national championship in men's basketball. The game is referred to as "The Perfect Game",[7] as the Wildcats shot 78.6 percent as a team for the game (22 for 28, including 9 for 10 in the second half).

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference schedule was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference box was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "The Final Four" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. 2019. p. 36. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  4. ^ Fitzpatrick, p. 246.
  5. ^ Fitzpatrick, p. 241.
  6. ^ "The Final Four" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. 2019. p. 8. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  7. ^ DeCourcy, Mike (March 29, 2020). "Villanova vs. Georgetown, 1985: Seven things you didn't know about Wildcats' 'Perfect Game' upset". Sporting News. Retrieved April 19, 2022.