Title : Final Four: Virginia, Texas Tech survive furious rallies to reach national championship
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Final Four: Virginia, Texas Tech survive furious rallies to reach national championship
From one-and-done to NCAA Tournament miracle men, Virginia will play in the national championship game for the first time after pulling off another last-second stunner on a disputed foul with 0.6 seconds left.
Kyle Guy made three free throws as debate immediately started over the call and Virginia celebrated its second straight can-you-believe-it play, beating Auburn 63-62 Saturday in the Final Four.
A year after becoming the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16, these top-seeded Cavaliers now look like destiny's team. They will face either Texas Tech, who beat Michigan State XX-XX, on Monday night.
The Cavaliers (34-3) reached the Final Four for the first time since 1984 with a wild buzzer-beater by Mahmadi Diakite to send their Elite Eight game against Purdue to overtime.
Beating the Tigers took an even crazier finish.
The fifth-seeded Auburn (30-10) had erased a 10-point deficit in the final five minutes and led 61-60 after Guy made an off-balance 3 with 7.6 seconds left. The shot snapped a drought of more than five minutes by the Cavaliers, who then sent Jared Harper to the line with 7 seconds left.
Wild final second
Harper made one and Auburn, with fouls to give, did so twice. On one of them, it looked as if Ty Jerome might have double-dribbled into a decisive turnover. But there was no whistle.
"We knew there was a disruption," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said of the possible missed call.
With 1.5 seconds left and in need of some magic, Virginia got the ball to Guy in the corner. He turned and fired and Samir Doughty, hands straight up in the air, bumped into Guy's hip. The shot bounced off the rim. Game over? Auburn started to celebrate and the PA announcer in U.S. Bank Stadium even announced the Tigers had won.
Guy pulled his jersey over his face. But not in angst. He said he knew it wasn't over.
"I heard [the official] him call it right away," Guy said. "That was me focusing."
6 points in 8 seconds 😱<br><br>Kyle Guy capped off a fantastic finish for <a href="https://twitter.com/UVAMensHoops?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@UVAMensHoops</a> in the first <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FinalFour?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FinalFour</a> matchup! <a href="https://t.co/5Mf5TlGs5X">pic.twitter.com/5Mf5TlGs5X</a>
—@marchmadness
When the whistle blew, Pearl lost it on the sideline, pumping his fist and screaming.
"We kind of thought we had it sealed," said Bryce Brown, who led the Auburn comeback with three 3s in the final 4:30. "It's not why we lost the game. I just didn't agree with the call."
Pearl said he didn't want the final call to define a great game, but he did say the officials seemed to be letting physical play go throughout the game. So, he asked, why not then?
Guy swished the first two free throws to tie it and Auburn called a timeout to ice him. Didn't work. He hit one more for the lead.
"I just literally told myself that we dream of these moments, and to be able to make one happen was special," Guy said.
Auburn threw a long inbound pass to Brown, but his desperation 3 was short.
Putting UMBC loss in the past
The Cavaliers mobbed Guy on one end. Brown sat on the court, head hanging on the other. Auburn, in the Final Four for the first time, had its season end in a most painful way.
But the team that made UMBC a household name — at least for a little while — in the first round of last year's tournament would not be denied. It has been Virginia's cross to bear all season. Even after beating Auburn.
"I feel like I get asked this question every single round, every round we advance, and every round I say the same thing almost," Jerome said, "and it feels a little bit sweeter, a little bit sweeter."
Then Guy said: "Not much to add. Just you guys can ask that question again on Monday."
Texas Tech ends MSU run
For those who thought Texas Tech only plays defence, it's time to meet Matt Mooney.
While the Red Raiders were locking down Michigan State on one end, the graduate transfer shooting guard was raining in 3s on the other, lifting Tech one win away from the title Saturday night with a 61-51 victory over the Spartans in the Final Four.
Mooney matched his season-high with 22 points, including three 3-pointers over the span of 3 minutes to give Texas Tech a 13-point lead midway through the second half.
Under these circumstances, it was too much to overcome, and now Texas Tech and its vagabond coach, Chris Beard, are playing in Monday's final against Virginia.
"He told us we had enough to play in the final, and maybe coach is psychic," Mooney said. "He must be psychic because here we are."
Mooney's first two shots in the stretch capped a 5-for-5 hot streak by Texas Tech (31-6) that stood as the game's only true blast of offence.
Defensive slog
The rest of the game was a defensive slog, filled with air balls, blocked shots and clogged-up passing lanes. It was, to put it Texas Tech's way, perfectly ugly.
Michigan State (32-7) leaves coach Tom Izzo's eighth Final Four with its seventh loss — the 2000 title is still the only time the Spartans have taken it all the way under their veteran coach.
But they did not go away easily.
After Mooney put them down by a baker's dozen midway through the half, the Spartans trimmed it to 3. Matt McQuaid had a wide-open look from the corner — one of the very few on this night — to tie with 1:50 left, but the ball rimmed out and the Red Raiders pulled away.
HAVE. A. NIGHT!<br><br>Matt Mooney was red hot for the Red Raiders! 🔥<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FinalFour?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FinalFour</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/TexasTechMBB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TexasTechMBB</a> <a href="https://t.co/kY6AmAM0GI">pic.twitter.com/kY6AmAM0GI</a>
—@marchmadness
Jarrett Culver (10 points, five boards) made one free throw on the next trip down, then Norense Odiase swiped the ball from MSU's Xavier Tillman — one of Tech's four steals on the night — and the Red Raiders worked the ball to Culver, who made his only 3 to push the lead to 58-51 and start the celebration.
The defence that led the nation in efficiency and held teams to under 37% shooting — second best in the county — held Michigan State to 31.9% from the floor.
Most tellingly, it stymied Big Ten player of the year Cassius Winston. Yes, he led the Spartans with 16 points, but it came on 4-for-16 shooting, and he didn't score his first second-half points until more than 10 minutes had elapsed — long after Mooney put this game out of reach.
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