SAN ANTONIO — After the second NBA-range three-pointer fell through the net in less than a minute, Donte DiVincenzo bounded back on defense with pep in his step but no emotion on his face.

The reserve guard finally marinated in the moment when a timeout was called and he earned not one but two chest bumps from teammates. He thrust an arm into the air, pointing toward the vast Villanova cheering section behind the team bench.

“Di-Vin-Cen-zo!” the Wildcats fans roared inside the Alamodome. “Di-Vin-Cen-zo!”

They can say that again. The Big East Conference’s Sixth Man of the Year was the primary factor in the top-seeded Wildcats’ 79-62 conquest of third-seeded Michigan on Monday night in the NCAA tournament’s championship game.

DiVincenzo scored 18 of his career-high 31 points in the first half, providing the spark the Wildcats (36-4) needed to persevere through a slow start in which they were frazzled by the Wolverines’ active defense.

“If someone’s hot, feed ’em,” said Jalen Brunson, the national Player of the Year, who finished with nine points and was perfectly fine with playing a supporting role on this night.

DiVincenzo also provided some memorable defense in the second half when he blocked Michigan’s Charles Matthews on a driving dunk attempt. Then came the two three-pointers in a span of 52 seconds that gave the Wildcats an 18-point lead with eight minutes left and essentially sealed their second national title in three years.

There would be no need for a buzzer-beating three-pointer to match the one that Kris Jenkins made against North Carolina in 2016.

Villanova was so good in so many facets that it easily shrugged a subpar shooting performance in which it made 10 of 27 three-pointers. That total added to the Wildcats’ records for three-pointers in an NCAA tournament (76) and a season (464).

Michigan’s Moritz Wagner scored 11 early points before being overcome by a torrent of emotion that earned him a technical foul early in the second half. Wagner had just been called for an offensive foul when he went chest to chest with Villanova’s Omari Spellman, who was also assessed a technical foul.

By then the Wolverines (33-8) were down by 15 points and could only try to pretty things up. They failed at that too.

“Honestly, I didn’t look at the score at all,” DiVincenzo said. “I didn’t know how many points I had, I didn’t know any of that. I was just trying to make the right play. And Omari [Spellman] was setting unbelievable screens for me getting me open. And I was just feeling it.”

Wagner finished with 16 points and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman added 23 for the Wolverines, who made only three of 23 three-pointers on the way to their second loss in a national championship game under coach John Beilein.

In the minutes before tipoff, a fan stood several rows behind the Michigan bench and held up a yellow-and-blue sign acknowledging the magnitude of the challenge.

“Shock the World,” the sign read.

Even those rooting for the Wolverines seemed to realize they were likely to be outclassed.

Villanova featured the nation’s best offense and an ability to lull opponents into thinking they were every bit the Wildcats’ equal before quickly discovering otherwise during a flurry of Villanova points.

The Wolverines were buried under a hailstorm of three-pointers and dynamic playmaking that included DiVincenzo making 10 of 15 shots and forward Mikal Bridges adding 19 points.

“Sometimes I think about whether I’m a good defender, because in practice, he makes me look bad,” said Bridges, who likely made this his final audition for the NBA.

One key question: Does Jay Wright’s team belong on the list of the best of all-time?

Maybe so, considering the way Villanova dismantled everyone in front of it in a tournament that was dripping with upsets, underdogs and at least the appearance of parity.

“We don’t really look at it that way,” Wright said. “We don’t look at it as, did we just dominate that team? No. We played well.”

ben.bolch@latimes.com

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The Associated Press contributed to this article.