From college basketball’s best conference, the ACC, a tale of two cities. A Charlottesville victory parade for the Virginia Wahoos and a Durham funeral for the Duke Blue Devils.
A year ago, Virginia had the painful distinction of being the only No. 1 seed in NCAA history to lose to a 16th seed when the Wahoos were shocked by UMBC. Now, one long year later, Virginia is redeemed and NCAA champions for the first time after beating Texas Tech in overtime, 85-77.
Not that anything was easy for Coach Tony Bennett’s Virginia squad after last season’s embarrassment. The Wahoos certainly needed a few breaks along the way to reach the championship game, then proceeded to outlast Texas Tech in vintage Virginia form. The Wahoos shut down the Red Raider’s best player Jarrett Culver (15 points but only 5-of-22 shooting from the field) with their suffocating pack line
Hunter was especially impressive when it counted most. On his way to a season-high 27 points, Hunter hit a three from the deep corner with 14 seconds left that sent the game into overtime. Ty Jerome found Hunter all alone in the corner on a crafty drive to the basket that sucked in Texas Tech’s defense. The Red Raiders had erased a 10-point second half deficit to take the lead before Hunter’s clutch shot.
And what Virginia fan will ever forget Kyle Guy’s heroics in the Wahoos’ dramatic 63-62 victory over Auburn in the semifinals. After squandering a 10-point lead late in the second half, the Wahoos found themselves trailing by two in the closing seconds. Attempting a difficult 3-pointer from the corner, Guy was fouled by the Tigers’ Samir Doughty with .6 seconds remaining. Yes, Doughty moved underneath and bumped Guy on the shot, but it will definitely be remembered as one of the most controversial calls in Final Four history.
Virginia’s overtime 80-75 win over Purdue to reach the Final Four was no less dramatic than the Auburn thriller. Mamadi Diakite flicked in a shot at the buzzer that sent the game into overtime and the Wahoos survived a 42-point game from the Boilermakers’ Carsen Edwards in what was surely one of the best 3-point shooting exhibitions in NCAA history.
Just how nerve-wracking was Virginia’s victory over Purdue? Well, when the Wahoos played Auburn in the semifinals, Bennett’s father, Dick (who coached Wisconsin to
Coach on a Couch Overtime
Finally, it’s time for a proper burial of the Duke Blue Devils who came up short in a 68-67 loss to Michigan State in the regional finals after entering the NCAA’s as the No. 1 overall seed. In the past week, there’s been enough sports radio talk about the flaws of the one-and-done programs like Duke and Kentucky to nauseate any college basketball enthusiast. But seriously, Duke’s star freshmen Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett (not to mention Cam Reddish and Tre Jones) were amazing and definitely not the reason the Blue Devils failed to win a national championship.
Actually, Duke’s Hall of Fame Coach Mike Krzyzewski deserves the blame more than anybody else. Duke’s veteran supporting cast of Marques Bolden, Javin DeLaurier, Jack White and Alex O’Connell were incredibly unproductive (scoring averages between 4.1 and 5.3 points) considering all four were recruited by the Blue Devil coaching staff into a national power program. I am convinced that if Duke’s freshmen class had joined any of the other programs in the Top 25 those schools would have won a national championship. One more reliable veteran three-point shooter (No. 85 ESPN recruit O’Connell was not up to par) would have been more than enough for Duke to be replacing Virginia as national champions.