THE 81st renewal of the U.S. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men’s basketball tournament came to a conclusion on Tuesday with the Virginia Cavaliers downing the Texas Tech Red Raiders, 85-77, in overtime in the title game at the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
It was the nationally second-ranked Cavaliers’ first-ever national championship in program history. With 351 Division I teams in all, Virginia finished the 2018-19 season with a 35-3 record, including 6-0 in the four-week, 68-team tournament.
It also was sweet redemption for Virginia, which a year ago became the first regional No. 1 seed ever to lose to a No. 16 seed in the first round since the NCAA went into a 64-team seeding format in 1985.
Earlier, the Cavaliers reached the finals for the first time ever with advanced to the Final Four with a controversial 63-62 victory over the nationally 14th-rated Auburn Tigers in their third trip overall (after 1981 and 1984) to the Final Four. With Virginia trailing 62-60, 6-foot-2 junior guard Kyle Guy nailed three pressure-packed free throws with 0.6 seconds left after being fouled by Auburn’s Samir Doughty while attempting a left corner triple.
Unranked Texas Tech (31-7) advanced to the finals for the first time with a 61-51 victory over nationally fifth-ranked Michigan State in its first ever national semifinal appearance.
The thrilling Virginia-Texas Tech encounter was the eighth overall NCAA tournament finals that went into overtime and the first since 2008 when Kansas beat Derrick Rose-led Memphis, 75-68, in a five-minute extension.
Texas Tech, which trailed 59-51 with 4:22 left, went ahead for the first time in the second half, 68-65, but Virginia answered with a right corner triple from De’Andre Hunter to deadlock the count at 68-all with 12.9 seconds to go and eventually send the game into overtime.
In the extra five minutes, the Red Raiders again went up, 73-70, but the Cavaliers exploded with an 11-0 bomb to grab a commanding 81-73 advantage with half a minute remaining and the national crown in their pockets.
Hunter, a 6-foot-7 sophomore forward, finished with a career-high 27 points, including 22 in the second half and OT, and nine rebounds. Guy, Virginia’s scoring leader for the season with 15.2 points along with 4.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists an outing, contributed 24 points and romped away with the NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player award. Ty Jerome, a 6-5 junior guard, put together 16 points, eight assists and six boards.
The trio of Guy, Hunter and Jerome was named to the 2019 NCAA All-Tournament Team along with Texas Tech’s Jarrett Culver and Matt Mooney.
Hunter, Jerome and Culver, a 6-foot-5 sophomore guard, are projected to be first-round selections in the NBA draft on June 21 (Manila time) should they opt to bypass their remaining years of eligibility.
The next NCAA tournament will be held in March 2010 with the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta playing host to the Final Four the following month.
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