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John GasawayESPN Insider
A year after suffering the most shocking loss in the history of NCAA tournaments, Virginia will play for a national title. This is how the Cavaliers did the work and what will follow.
The Cavaliers have achieved miracle finishes back to back:
First, there was the tying goal of Mamadi Diakite at the end of the regulation against Purdue, in a match that the Hoos won in overtime. But even the victory over the Boilermakers could make Virginia's history forget what happened to Auburn.
Tony Bennett's team lost four points and 17 seconds to Saturday, but lost another two seconds and 1.5 seconds left. It was at this point that Ty Jerome cashed the ball to Kyle Guy in the left corner, who was fouled by Samir Doughty while he was running a 3 with 0. , 6 seconds to play.
Guy made the three free throws, Auburn's attempt to perform a full field miracle failed and the rest is history. Virginia won 63-62 and the Cavaliers will play for the title.
Controversy was everywhere in the last five seconds
It was not just the call against Doughty. With only 2.8 seconds left, Jerome quickly put the ball back to the ground while his team led 62-60. The junior tried a dribble behind the back when the ball hit the back of his right foot.
As Jerome picked up the ball after he bounced back, he picked it up instead of continuing his dribble. The game should have called a double dribble.
Jerome and From & # 39; Andre Hunter played Virginia in the national title game
In a match that will be remembered by Guy, who made three hugely important free throws, two of his teammates put the Cavaliers in a position to score another improbable result.
Jerome led all scorers with 21 points and earned 4 of 9 points on his 3. Hunter came out strong after half-time. In the second half, he scored 10 of his 14 points in Virginia's last game with less than 60 possessions (59) and failed.
Auburn made an incredible comeback
The match seemed really well over when Virginia led 57-47 with 5:22 to go, but the Tigers responded with three points scored by Bryce Brown. The senior finished the match with 12 points, but his exploits in the final minutes were almost enough to allow the Bruce Pearl team to win.
In particular, Brown and his teammates excelled at taking care of the ball and maximizing their chances of scoring. No Auburn player recorded more than two offensive boards, but the Tigers beat off nine offensive rebounds. It was almost enough.
Virginia will need a better strike on the line and more second chances Monday night
Before Guy reached 3-on-3 at the line at the last second of the match, Virginia had only managed 3-in-9 on his free throws. Without this miraculous arrival, the chances lost on the line would be the last memory of this team.
Speaking of surprises, the Cavaliers took back only 17% of their missed shots. One night when Bennett's team recorded their best shot of the tournament since the Gardner-Webb match, the lack of scoring opportunities almost cost them their season. Virginia will want to do better on the offensive glass Monday night.
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