The game was played on Monday, April 4, 2016, at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, between the Villanova Wildcats and the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Villanova started to gain the upper hand in the second half, taking their largest lead of the game, 67–57, with 4:47 remaining.

On the ensuing possession, Paige sunk an off-balance three-point field goal to tie the game with 4.7 seconds left.

However, Ryan Arcidiacono found Kris Jenkins for a buzzer-beating, championship-winning three-point shot, with Villanova defeating North Carolina by a final score of 77–74.

[2][3] After a 27–4 regular season and winning the 2016 Big East Conference regular season championship, Villanova beat Georgetown and Providence en route to the 2016 Big East tournament finals, where they would lose to Seton Hall.

[7] In the South regional Final, with Villanova leading 62–59, Mikal Bridges made a steal before Frank Mason III could shoot a potential game-tying three-pointer, and Jalen Brunson made the ensuing free throws and Villanova beat the #1-overall seed Kansas 64–59 to advance to the Final Four for the first time since 2009.

[11] North Carolina opened the tournament with an 83–67 win over Florida Gulf Coast, outscoring FGCU 42–27 in the second half.

[14] In the Elite Eight, North Carolina beat fellow ACC foe Notre Dame, 88–74, to advance to an NCAA Tournament-record 19th Final Four.

[16] Source[17][18] The first half of the National Championship game was tightly fought, with neither team taking a lead larger than five points in the first 19 minutes.

However, Villanova's Josh Hart blocked a layup attempt, which led to a Phil Booth jump shot at the other end of the court, cutting the deficit to 39–34 as the clock expired.

The Tar Heels led in fast break points by a 10–2 margin and collected five offensive rebounds compared to only one for Villanova.

[20] With 6:13 left in the second half, Ryan Arcidiacono of the Wildcats hit a three-point field goal to give his team a lead of six points.

With 1:38 remaining, Villanova led 70–64 before Marcus Paige of the Tar Heels hit a three-pointer to cut the lead in half.

After a Villanova turnover, Brice Johnson hit a bank shot to cut the Wildcats' lead to one point.

[22] Down by three points, North Carolina tied the game on an "unbelievable" double-clutch three-pointer by Paige with 4.7 seconds remaining.

Berry added 20 points for the Tar Heels and Johnson scored 14 while collecting a game-high 8 rebounds.

For the first time in 31 years, you can call the 'Cats champions, off the Jenkins three at the buzzer!Durham: Into Ryan Arcidiacono; he'll come front court.

[21] The Associated Press called the final basket "as memorable as any [points] that have been scored in the history of this tournament".

These special telecasts had been used for the Final Four since they moved to TBS in 2014, but this marked the first time they were used for the national championship.

On the main broadcast, Jim Nantz was on play-by-play, with Bill Raftery and Grant Hill providing on-court commentary.

[29] Craig Sager was also on hand, as he interviewed former North Carolina guard, Chicago Bulls legend, and Basketball Hall of Famer Michael Jordan, who was in attendance.

[30] TNT's "Team Stream", focusing on North Carolina, was called by Wes Durham with analyst Brendan Haywood and sideline reporter Dwayne Ballen, while on truTV's "Team Stream", which focused on Villanova, Scott Graham called the game with analyst Brian Finneran and sideline reporter Kacie McDonnell.

[29] When it was first revealed that TBS would air this game, some concerns arose as to whether the traditional closing song, One Shining Moment, would be used due to its association with CBS, but TBS eventually played it to end the telecast, and continues to do so when it has the broadcasting rights to the Final Four and national championship.

Sean McDonough served as the play-by-play announcer for the international audience, with Dick Vitale providing commentary.

[31] Radio coverage in the United States was provided by Westwood One, with Kevin Kugler calling the game.

The three cable channels airing the game, TBS, TNT and TruTV, had a combined broadcast average of 17.8 million viewers.

That total is down from the 28.3 million who watched the previous year's Championship Game, which aired exclusively on CBS.