It’s been a crazy last 365 days for the Virginia Cavaliers. In 2018, the No.1 seeded Cavs were the first top seed to get beat in the opening round. Virginia was just not beat, they lost by 20 to the Baltimore Maryland County Retrievers. On Monday, the program redeemed itself with an exciting 85-77 overtime win over Texas Tech to claim it’s first NCAA championship in men’s basketball.The game was classic in almost every respect and was the first matchup in 40 years between two teams that has never previously had reached the final. The last was the matchup between the 1979 Magic Johnson Michigan State Spartan outfit that beat Larry Bird and Indiana State Sycamores. Last night’s showdown didn’t have that type of star power but was a throwback to times when teams ran methodical offenses, played tough tenacious lunch pail defense, and featured clutch shooting by veteran players down the stretch.
Virginia was led by DeAndre Hunter’s 27 points while Kyle Guy added 24 for the winners. Texas Tech was led by Brandone Francis with 17 off the bench while the Red Raider’s big three of Culver, Morretti, and Mooney had 15, 15, 10, respectively in a losing effort. The game featured a series of runs that ended with the teams tied at 68 in regulation. The overtime was all Virginia as Cav backers and the over cashed their tickets.
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