Title : Texas Tech will go to the NCAA final for the first time ever in championship game against Virginia
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Texas Tech will go to the NCAA final for the first time ever in championship game against Virginia
Welcome to the dance! Texas Tech will go to the NCAA final for the first time ever in championship game against Virginia
- Texas Tech will meet Virginia in the NCAA title game on Monday night at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis
- It is the first time the Red Raiders have been to the NCAA men's basketball championship game
- Neither Texas Tech nor Virginia has ever won the NCAA tournament before
Texas Tech has extended its first-ever trip to the Final Four with a 61-51 victory over Michigan State in a national semifinal game.
The Red Raiders now advance to the final game of the NCAA Tournament, Monday's men's national championship game against Virginia, to be held at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
It is slated to be a game that focuses heavily on defense, with the two defensive-minded teams battling for what would be a first-time championship for both programs.
Texas Tech entered the national semifinals by allowing just 84 points per 100 possessions, a defensive efficiency score on KenPom that ranks as the best the advanced-stats site has tracked dating to 2002.
Texas Tech guard Matt Mooney reacts to fans after winning a semifinal round game against Michigan State in the Final Four
Virginia players celebrate victory at the end of a semifinal round game against Auburn in the Final Four
A general view during the 2019 NCAA Final Four semifinal between the Auburn Tigers and the Virginia Cavaliers at U.S. Bank Stadium on Saturday in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Virginia coach Tony Bennett (left) and Texas Tech's Chris Beard (right) are the past two winners of the Associated Press award for men's national coach of the year
Virginia arrived ranked fifth nationally by surrendering 88.7 points per 100 possessions, a metric that factors out Virginia's slower offensive pace and offers a better measure of performance than scoring averages depressed by low-possession games.
Both defenses were strong in the second half of their semifinals. Texas Tech allowed Michigan State to make 8 of 24 shots, while Auburn made just 9 of 26 shots against Virginia.
The championship game will also be a matchup of the past two Associated Press men's national coaches of the year, with Texas Tech's Chris Beard winning this year's award and Virginia's Tony Bennett claiming it last season.
In Saturday's semifinal, Texas Tech came out firing in the second half and held off a Spartans' rally on the back of fifth-year senior graduate transfer guard Matt Mooney's 22 points.
Cassius Winston led Michigan State with 16 points but shot just 4 of 16 from the floor while being tracked most of the game by Mooney, who made 8 of 16 shots and 4 of 8 from 3-point range.
Matt Mooney #13 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders shoots the ball against Aaron Henry #11 of the Michigan State Spartans in the second half during the 2019 NCAA Final Four semifinal at U.S. Bank Stadium
Texas Tech's Jarrett Culver (23) takes a shot during the second half in the semifinals of the Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament against Michigan State, Saturday in Minneapolis
Texas Tech's Jarrett Culver (23) takes a shot against Michigan State's Xavier Tillman (23) and Matt McQuaid (20) during the second half in the semifinals of the Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament on Saturday
Texas Tech's Jarrett Culver, the Big 12 Player of the Year, was quiet until a raindrop right-handed runner gave Texas Tech its first field goal in five minutes and a 54-51 edge with 2:28 left.
He finished with 10 points.
Senior Matt McQuaid's bid to tie with a long 3-point attempt at the other end rattled in and out, and Culver made the first of two free throws. Texas Tech got the ball back with its fourth steal of the game on Michigan State's next possession, and Culver hit an uncontested trey from the top of the key, putting the Red Raiders up 58-51.
Senior Norense Odiase made two free throws to seal it with 39.7 seconds left after the Spartans' Kenny Goins clanked a 3-point try.
The Spartans stayed in the game at the free-throw line. Sophomore Xavier Tillman rattled in two after Winston connected on four consecutive shots from the stripe, and Michigan State whittled a 12-point deficit to five (52-47) with 5:38 remaining.
The Spartans cut it to three with just over three minutes to play on freshman Aaron Henry's two makes, then made it 52-51 when Henry's slashing layup went in with 2:44 left.
Jarrett Culver #23 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders reacts in the second half against the Michigan State Spartans
Texas Tech Red Raiders fans celebrate the team's win over the Michigan State Spartans in the Final Four
Michigan State's Gabe Brown reacts in the locker room after the team's 61-51 loss to Texas Tech in the Final Four
Texas Tech roared out of the halftime locker room with buckets on four of five possessions and took an eight-point lead -- 39-31 -- on a three-point play by freshman Kyler Edwards. Edwards drove hard from the left baseline and moved the ball from his right to left hand, putting it off the glass as he was fouled.
On the next possession, Mooney connected on a 3-ball from the wing and after a Michigan State turnover, the senior transfer drilled another to stake Texas Tech to a 45-33 advantage, prompting a red-faced Tom Izzo to call timeout.
Most of the damage was done while Culver watched from the bench with three fouls.
Suffocating defense won the first half on either end and neither team could find its legs. Only 15 of 49 field-goal attempts went through, and Texas Tech led 23-21 at the break.
Earlier on Saturday, Virginia's 63-62 win over Auburn came amid controversy in the final seconds.
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.
Fifth-seeded Auburn (30-10) had erased a 10-point deficit in the final five minutes and taken a 4-point lead. Heartbreak was again at hand for Virginia.
The Tigers 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 immediately sent Jared Harper to the line.
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. Jerome also might have been fouled before the mishandle. But there was no whistle for either.
'We knew there was a disruption,' Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said.
Auburn Tigers forward Anfernee McLemore (24) goes up for the ball with Virginia Cavaliers guard De'Andre Hunter (12) and forward Mamadi Diakite (25) in the second half in the 2019 men's Final Four at US Bank Stadium
In the final-second play that determined the game, Virginia Cavaliers guard Kyle Guy (5) is fouled by Auburn Tigers guard Samir Doughty (10). Guy went on to make three for three free throws to beat Auburn 63-62
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 was short, bouncing 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 exactly knew why official James Breeding had blown his whistle.
'I heard him call it right away,' Guy said. 'That was me focusing.'
Meanwhile, 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.
'My advice ... if that's a foul, call it,' Pearl said. 'Call it at the beginning of the game, call it in the middle of the game, call it at the end of the game. Don't call it any more or less at any other time during the game.'
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.
Virginia players celebrate after defeating Auburn 63-62 in the Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament
Virginia Cavaliers guard De'Andre Hunter (12) and guard Braxton Key (2) celebrate after beating the Auburn Tigers
Kyle Guy #5 of the Virginia Cavaliers celebrates with teammates after defeating the Auburn Tigers 63-62
After sinking the winning free throws, Kyle Guy #5 of the Virginia Cavaliers celebrates with teammates
Auburn forward Anfernee McLemore reacts after losing to Virginia in the Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament
Auburn threw a long inbound pass to Brown, but his desperation 3 was short.
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 12-game winning streak and season end in a most painful way.
NCAA national coordinator of officials J.D. Collins declined comment on the potential double dribble, but said Breeding's call was correct.
The foul violated the rule that 'verticality applies to a legal position and also to both the offensive and defensive players,' Collins said. 'The defender may not 'belly up' or use the lower part of the body or arms to cause contact outside his vertical plane or inside the opponent's vertical plane.'
Jerome scored 21 points for Virginia and De'Andre Hunter had 10 of his 14 in a stellar second half.
Doughty led Auburn with 13 points and Brown had 12 for Auburn, which survived the first round against New Mexico State when Terrell Brown of the Aggies missed two of three free throws with 1.1 seconds remaining in the Tigers' 78-77 victory.
Auburn wasn't so fortunate this time, and Virginia, 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. Being on the receiving end of maybe the most humbling NCAA Tournament upset ever has been Virginia's cross to bear all season. Even after beating Auburn, the Cavaliers had to recall the feeling of their offseason routine starting unexpectedly early last year.
'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.'
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