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MINNEAPOLIS – One year after leaving the field, embarrassing, it's the first seed number 1 to lose to 16th place in the men's NAC. tournament, Virginia left wearing a wreath Monday night.
The Cavaliers beat Texas Tech, 85-77, in overtime for the university's first national basketball championship, which resulted in immeasurable redemption.
"Forget about last year," said Ty Jerome of Virginia. "It's all you think about when you're a kid."
This title match was the first in 40 years between men's teams that had never been there before. The last was the showdown in which the Michigan team in Magic State defeated Larry Bird and the Indiana State in Salt Lake City.
The Monday night game offered nothing comparable to this level of power. Instead, viewers have had the choice of facing teams that rely on a bounce-back style – methodical offensive, lunch bucket defense, and long-standing formations.
They also attended a match for years, as teams traded back-to-back in overtime until the Red Raiders could do nothing.
"Whenever I thought I had them, they were shooting or playing," said Texas Tech's Matt Mooney, after looking down at the floor as he sat in front of his locker. "It was a battle. We threw a punch, they threw a punch. They came back to us each time. "
It was normal, therefore, that a pointer from De'Andre Hunter in the corner, 2 minutes 10 seconds behind, would leave the Cavaliers in the lead for good, 75-73.
Hunter, who missed last year's tournament with a broken wrist, carried the Cavaliers from both sides of the field, harassing Texas Tech star Jarrett Culver and scoring a career-high 27 points. Hunter did so with determination, scoring 22 points in the second half after missing seven of his eight shots to first base.
Texas Tech earned 17 points on the bench from Brandone Francis and a heroic side of Norense Odiase, 5, 10 points in the second half. But Culver, who survived late in the attack, could not deliver enough.
He missed two shots in the final seconds of regulation that would have allowed Texas Tech to win an unlikely title, which started the season without a ranking.
To win the championship, Virginia had to not only push the determined Red Raiders and win thrillers against Purdue and Auburn in previous rounds. It was also necessary the ghosts of last year, when she was knocked out by the University of Maryland in Baltimore County, and many questions about whether Tony Bennett's methodical system was suited to basketball. championship ball.
Bennett, whose father, Dick, brought Wisconsin to the Final Four in 2000, had turned Virginia into a powerhouse during his 10 years at university, but had not passed the first weekend of the tournament. NCAA only twice before this season.
The disappointment of last season stole like no other.
He lingered under the surface all season for the Cavaliers, who promised that they would be better for the experience.
Kyle Guy, a departing guard, used a photo of himself, leaning forward, his head in his hands, while U.M.B.C. The players celebrated around him, like his Twitter avatar for the last year. And when a journalist recently apologized for asking a question about this game, Guy told him that it was not necessary.
With a pair of pulverized defenses and coaches asking for hard shot selection, the game started according to expectations – something that looked like three dribbles and a cloud of sawdust.
Five minutes into the match, the score was 3-2 in favor of Texas Tech. And it took more than seven minutes for the Red Raiders to score the first goal.
But in the right way, the teams exchanged blow after blow. The Red Raiders were 10 points behind to equalize at 59-59 with 3:28 remaining when Culver drove and offered his service to Odiase, who turned the game into 3 points.
Mamadi Diakite and Culver calmly stalled a pair of free throws and after Hunter hit a rider on Culver and Ty Jerome scored on a cut in the basket, the Cavaliers apparently had enough maneuvering margin with a lead of 65-61. . But Davide Moretti cut him off by hitting a long 3-pointer with 1:31 to go.
Odiase got up to block Hunter's shot. This gave Culver a chance to get to the basket and score with a shot on the left side of Hunter's mighty fight with 35.7 seconds to go.
When Jerome missed a short jumper, Odiase was fouled and sank both free throws to give Texas Tech a 68-65 lead. But the Cavaliers arrived on the field and, after leading Jerry to the basket, found Hunter in the corner, his three-point marker equalized the score at 12.8 seconds.
"I thought we just needed one more stop," Odiase said. "We are proud to get stops of this kind. I thought it was over.
Then it was Culver's turn, but his pointer was off. Then, as Virginia attempted a delay, the ball went off the field, giving the Red Raiders another chance to leave 1.0 seconds.
However, Braxton Key blocked the jumper from Culver's corner from the corner of the meeting. The title game was extended for the first time since Kansas defeated Memphis in 2008.
Mooney, who was carrying Texas Tech with 22 points against Michigan State, woke up in overtime, draining a 3-pointer and, trapped under the basket, throwing a shot that bounced twice on the rim and passed through.
That gave the Red Raiders a 73-72 lead. But Guy lost two free throws, Hunter pushed a pointer to the bottom of the corner and all the Cavaliers had to do was continue to make free throws while Texas Tech made a desperate attempt to stop them. clock to run off.
Virginia made her 12 shots in overtime, finishing the Red Raiders and the ghosts of last year.
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