University of Virginia fans had reason to celebrate one Tuesday after the Cavaliers held of the Texas Tech Red Raiders to win its first NCAA men’s college basketball championship.
The teams looked to be perfectly matches throughout the contest, which became the first title game in 11 years to head into overtime.
That is when Virginia’s redemption arch began to play out, with the team quickly running away with the game just one year after becoming the first number one seed to be bounced in the tournament’s first round.
Videos from both the players and their fans on social media show the aftermath of game and the wild celebrations across the state, as well as the new glittering national team bus.
Virginia guard Kyle Guy, who scored 24 points for Virginia in the school’s first ever title game, was filmed hugging his girlfriend Alexa Jenkins while Mamadi Diakite posted a video of the team posing with their new hardware.
Over 10,000 students and fans took to the streets in Charlottesville after watching the game, with 8,000 people turning up to watch the game at the John Paul Jones Arena while thousands more packed bars in the area.
Photographs from the aftermath of the match captured the excitement of the Virginia supporters who partied near the school following the final buzzer
The Cavaliars, who had watched a 10-point lead slip away and become a 3-point deficit before De’Andre Hunter made a game-tying 3 with only 12 seconds left in regulation.
He then made another with just over two minutes left of the extra period, giving his team the lead for good.
The victory was even more sweet given Virginia’s devastating first-round exit last season to University of Maryland-Baltimore County, when the Cavs lost 74-54 in what was the first time a No. 1 seed had ever lost to a No. 16 seed in the tournament.
Now, just 388 days later, they are national champions.
Virginia fans celebrate their team’s win in the championship of the Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament against Texas Tech, while watching at an intersection near the school in Richmond, Va
Students watching the match in Virginia party in the streets on Monday evening following their team’s historic victory over Texas Tech
‘Surreal,’ Hunter called it. ‘It’s a goal we started out with at the beginning of the season. We knew we were going to bounce back from last year. We achieved our dreams.’
After going without a field goal for the first 18-and-a-half minutes, the sophomore finished with a career-high 27 points.
Each of Virginia’s 34 wins leading to the final, and each of its scant three losses, was punctuated by the reminder that only the end result would serve as the ultimate report card on whether the Cavs could truly shed the baggage of last year.
Virginia fans celebrate their team’s first NCAA men’s basketball title – which comes one year after their stunning defeat to No.16 Seed last season
Virginia fans celebrate their team’s first win in the championship of the Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament
President Donald Trump congratulated Virginia on Twitter after Monday’s overtime win
A 1 seed once again, they fell behind by 14 early to 16th-seeded Gardner-Webb in this year’s opening round, and a nightmare seemed to be repeating itself. But not this time.
Then, they beat Purdue in the Elite Eight when the game looked lost, and did the same against Auburn on Saturday — getting bailed out by a foul call and Kyle Guy’s three free throws with 0.6 seconds left.
‘I told them, I just want a chance at a title fight one day,’ Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. ‘That’s all I want… You’re never alone in the hills and the valleys we faced in the last year.’
Hunter’s key 3 in OT gave Virginia a 75-73 lead, and after the teams traded possessions, Tech guard Davide Moretti scrambled after a loose ball heading onto Virginia’s end of the court.
Virginia celebrated late into the night on Monday, after overcoming memories of last year’s historic first-round loss to claim their first NCAA men’s basketball title
Virginia players celebrate after the championship game against Texas Tech in the Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament on Monday, April 8
Virginia head coach Tony Bennett celebrates with fans after the championship game against Texas Tech in the Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 8, 2019, in Minneapolis
Virginia’s Kyle Guy (left) and Kihei Clark shake hands in front of the championship trophy after the 85-77 win over Texas Tech on Monday
It appeared it would be Texas Tech ball, but a replay showed Moretti’s pinkie finger had barely scraped the ball. Virginia got possession, and worked the ball into Ty Jerome, who got fouled and made two free throws.
Brandone Francis missed a 3 on the other end, and Virginia pulled away — the first time this game felt remotely comfortable, even after Guy made a 3 to give the Cavs a 10-point lead with 10:22 left in regulation.
The Cavs went 12 for 12 from the line in overtime and scored the game’s final 11 points.
As for the Red Raiders, they were a team full of grinders who refused to quit.
They fell behind by 10 twice in this game — seemingly too much in a matchup between two legendary defenses that allowed way more than the total of 118 points predicted by sportsbooks — but just kept coming back.
Jarrett Culver made a spinning left-handed layup over Hunter with 35 seconds left in regulation to put the Red Raiders ahead 66-65.
After Jerome missed a teardrop on the other end, Norense Odiase got fouled and made two free throws to make it 68-65.
The nation’s best defense couldn’t afford to give up a 3, but Jerome skipped a pass to Hunter, who was open on the wing — and spotted up and drained it.
Virginia forward Mamadi Diakite (left) and Kyle Guy (right) celebrate after the championship game against Texas Tech in which they won 85-77
Virginia’s Kyle Guy (5) and Ty Jerome (11) react to a play during the overtime in the championship of the Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament against Texas Tech
Culver missed a 3 with Guy in his face with a second left, and we were headed to overtime, the first extra session in the final since Kansas beat Memphis in 2008.
‘In terms of my guys, I’ve never been more proud,’ Red Raiders coach Chris Beard said. ‘This is real life. We’ll bounce back.’
The last five minutes of regulation and the OT featured several one-on-one matchups between the two NBA-bound stars, and Hunter came out the winner.
He finished 8 for 16 after an 0-for-7 start. Culver, who stayed in his hometown of Lubbock to see how far he could take Tech, went 5 for 22 for 15 points, continuing a cold-shooting Final Four; he went 8 for 34 over the weekend.
Both will likely move on to the NBA. Hunter will go there with a title.
CULVER, TEXAS TECH FALL SHORT
By The Associated Press
Jarrett Culver walked slowly around the perimeter as the final buzzer sounded, in a bit of a daze as he tugged his jersey to his chin.
Texas Tech’s sophomore star could easily have been surveying the scene of his struggles.
Culver missed 17 of his 22 attempts from the floor, including all six tries from 3-point range, and his 15 points weren’t enough for the Red Raiders to overcome Virginia’s super-efficient offense in this 85-77 loss in overtime in the national championship game of the NCAA Tournament on Monday night.
Jarrett Culver missed 17 of his 22 attempts from the floor, including all six tries from 3-point range, and his 15 points weren’t enough for the Red Raiders to overcome Virginia’s super-efficient offense in this 85-77 loss in overtime in the national championship game of the NCAA Tournament on Monday night
As the confetti fell from the rafters of U.S. Bank Stadium, signaling the end of Texas Tech’s remarkable run through March Madness, two rounds further than any other team in program history had made it, Culver went to console seniors Brandone Francis and Matt Mooney before leaving the court.
Maybe for good, at least in college, since he’s projected as a top 10 pick in the NBA draft this summer. His peer on the other side, De’Andre Hunter, got the best of him with a 27-point performance that came largely with Culver trying to defend him.
Culver, the native of Lubbock, Texas, raised just miles from campus, missed all four shots he took in the extra period.
Hunter hit a pullup jumper on Culver with 2:21 remaining in regulation, and then Culver missed a 3-pointer on the front end of the rim before Kyle Guy flicked a layup in off the glass for a 65-61 lead for the Cavaliers with 1:44 remaining.
Davide Moretti and Norense Odiase helped push the Red Raiders back to even, and Culver contributed his best play of the game in that closing stretch, a 360-degree spin dribble in the lane to elude Hunter and find space to flip in a left-handed layup.
But he just didn’t have enough of those to go around. When star players start games cold, they can be prone to forcing shots down the stretch to try to catch up, and Culver was mostly out of sync while trying to recover.
Texas Tech’s Jarrett Culver (23) takes a shot against Virginia’s De’Andre Hunter (12) during the second half
Culver had a dunk blocked by Mamadi Diakite in the first half and twice threw a lob pass into the post for a turnover. His only success came when he used his off-the-dribble quickness to find a crease in Virginia’s defense that allowed him to get close enough to the rim. The second team All-American missed his first eight attempts from the floor, finally getting a shot to fall on a pullup jumper with 11:15 left in the second half that cut Virginia’s lead 50-43.
The Cavaliers can play defense, too, donning that unglamorous part of the sport as just as much of a merit badge as the Red Raiders. They had their paint-packing scheme in prime form to match the magnitude of the game, squeezing so many of Texas Tech’s possessions into the final seconds of the shot clock.
Of course, the Red Raiders had plenty of open looks at the basket, too, that they just didn’t take enough advantage of. They missed their first eight shots of the game, until Moretti’s 3-pointer swished through with 7:20 elapsed. Their first five makes were actually from behind the arc, until a dunk by Owens with 6:39 left.
Texas Tech’s biggest celebrity fan, former quarterback and reigning NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes III, flexed his right bicep for the crowd when the camera showed him on the scoreboard during a timeout, and the Red Raiders could have borrowed some of his accuracy.
Mooney, the hero of the Final Four win over Michigan State, finished with only 10 points on 4-for-9 shooting after making only one shot before halftime.
Texas Tech Red Raiders guard Jarrett Culver (23) forces a jump ball with Virginia Cavaliers guard Kyle Guy (5) during the second half on Monday in Minneapolis