753. That’s the number of days since the traumatic loss that, quite literally, altered the future of the Virginia men’s basketball team.
Think back to that night. There have been stories told of reactions that took place. Of people breaking dishes, smashing televisions, or wrecking couches
But the most simple means of describing what the feeling was like is not to chronicle the people who took the route of destroying household items. No, it is beyond that.
There comes a point, after anger, when the reality sets in. The heartbreaking reality that the Virginia Cavaliers were not going to advance past the first round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament. Non-sport types don’t really understand it.
They question, “how can you be so upset over something so trivial?” And the answer is that it is in no way trivial. When you watch a team pour its heart out on the hardwood twice a week for six months, you become incredibly attached to it.
You hang onto every result like it is life-changing. When the team loses, you lose with it. When the team wins, you win with it.
Such was the case on March 16th, 2018. And so it was again on April 8th, 2019.
A game that meant so much to so many had been ridiculed and put down by many before it even started. “First to 50 wins,” they jeered, alluding to the defensive prowess of both Virginia and Texas Tech.
The first team to 50 did turn out to be the victors, in fact, though it would take much, much more from both sides before that was proven to be true.
The game started inauspiciously enough, with the two teams trading baskets to begin. But then Virginia started to pull away. The Hoos jumped out to a 17-7 lead, and it was clear already that they were the superior team. They were, after all, a one seed, whereas the Red Raiders were a three.
It’s safe to say that Virginia had their down moments throughout a tumultuous tournament. Like any other team, they had struggled at times, resulting in games against lesser teams that turned out far too closer than they should have been.
This was not the case as they jumped out of the gates to a commanding lead. They played what was, by all accounts, a very solid first half. Kihei Clark and Ty Jerome, who combined for 12 assists in the game, were dishing out dimes left and right.
It was team basketball at its finest for a good while, resulting in good looks from deep or easy layups and dunks. Ty was magnificent in that half, as he had been in the previous game against Auburn. As was Kyle Guy, who hit a pair of threes in that first half.
De’Andre Hunter did a fantastic job on Jarrett Culver, the two of them being engaged in the headliner matchup. Hunter was still fairly absent on the offensive end, though. He only had 5 points in the opening half, missing a lot of shots. But the aggressiveness that he showed was a good precursor for what was to come in the second half.
But before that, in the last play of the opening half, he did make a big contribution. He found Ty Jerome at the top of the key for a three at the buzzer that broke the tie and gave the Hoos a 32-29 lead.
In such an emotionally charged game, that three had far bigger implications than just three points. Yes, it gave Virginia the lead, but it also served to give them a psychological advantage going into the next—but not final—20 minutes.
So at the break, the Hoos were up by three. To be quite honest, everybody on the court had played well in the first half. The four aforementioned UVa players had turned it on, as had Diakite, the other starter, and Key. Key in particular was huge off the bench in the game, coming up with 10 massive rebounds.
The Texas Tech players had been no slouches either. They were 5-10 from deep, and Davide Moretti had been playing really well. Despite Culver’s limited contributions, he still had made Hunter guard him, taking away from the rest of the defense.
The result was a game that could go either way.
And then it looked again like it would go Virginia’s way. Dre was absolutely magnificent in the second period and overtime, probably saving his draft stock with his 27-point outing. In the battle of Hunter and Culver, it was (big) advantage, Hunter.
Hunter would win that particular battle in the long run, but not without a tough fight from his opponent. After Virginia took what seemed like their customary 10-point lead, Culver was a big part of the other half of that equation.
Oh yeah, that would be, um, losing that lead. They’d squandered sizable leads in the last three games, obviously recovering to win all three. Now, they did it again.
It wasn’t, of course, all to the fault of the Wahoos that they lost their lead. This time it wasn’t even quick, as it had been against Auburn. The 10-point lead that they held with 10 minutes to go took nearly 10 minutes to dissipate.
Culver beat Hunter to the rim with 35 seconds to go, giving his team a 66-65 lead. The dream of a national title, seemed, once again, to have gone up in smoke.
In nearly every game was a point where a comeback appeared to be beyond reasonable expectation. That feeling of despair was perpetuated in three, perhaps four, of the previous five games.
It was worming its way back into the hearts of UVa fans as Culver’s layup hit nylon. It bore deeper in as Jerome missed a runner that even he admitted he should have hit with 22 ticks to go. And it was barely contained when Norense Odiase hit two free throws to make it a three point game.
But here was Ty Jerome, with the ball back in his hands, a chance to banish that feeling. He slung it out to Dre on the wing, who shot it in that smooth, familiar motion. And there was that all-important leather ball, finding the net with 12 seconds left.
De’Andre Hunter had come through yet again in the title game, this time with a huge three pointer. The confusion that ensued on the final possession was all for naught, as Braxton Key came up with another big play, this one a block on Culver.
So there we were, in overtime to decide the national title. This was no 50-point slog. This was incredible, heart-stopping basketball, with the added element of the knowledge that whoever scored more points in the following five minutes would be national champions.
National Champions. It’s still unbelievable.
But first came overtime. The extra period was even more tense than regulation, if that was even possible. Hunter scored again, on two free throws. Then Matt Mooney hit a three over the outstretched arm of Ty Jerome.
That was an extremely gut-wrenching moment, watching Mooney pull up in Jerome’s face to give his team the lead. Then Mooney made another shot, a short jumper that hit every part of the rim before dropping through. Kyle Guy’s two free throws pulled the Hoos back to within one.
And then the game was set on the track that it would never leave. Fittingly, it was Hunter who did so. He hit another three, this one from right in front of Tony Bennett to put the Hoos up by two. The coach pumped his fist, maybe realizing that the tide had been turned.
Virginia made six free throws to follow that, and it was all over but for the celebrations. And then, it was.
Ty Jerome threw in the long inbounds pass to Braxton Key. Virginia fans jumped up in expectation, players left the bench. Key, striding down the court marked with a final four logo, amidst 73,000 fans, playing for the national championship.
And Key grabbed the ball and slammed it home.
And Bill Raftery said “say goodnight.”
Goodnight, maybe, to the national championship game.
But good morning to a new legacy for Virginia basketball.
Virginia 85, Texas Tech 77.
National. Champions.