Virginia Cavaliers win first national title in school history

The Hudsonian Student Newspaper Thursday, April, 18Thursday, April, 18 0 Comments 2019, cavaliers, hunter, March Madness, mcintyre, Virginia, win

The Hudsonian Student Newspaper | The Hudsonian COURTESY OF SPORTSILLUSTRATED

By: Hunter McIntyre

Sports Editor

March Madness has come to an end with the Virginia Cavaliers defeating the Texas Tech Red Raiders by a score of 85-77 in overtime.

Virginia Head Coach, Tony Bennett, and junior guard, Kyle Guy, led the Cavaliers to their first-ever NCAA championship.

After last year’s embarrassing first-round loss to the University of Maryland-Baltimore County which saw Virginia become the only first seed to lose to a 16 seed in NCAA history, they sought out redemption in this year’s tournament.

Guy was determined in this year’s tournament, being Virginia’s best player for much of the year.

Guy pushed Virginia through a tense final four matchup versus Auburn sinking three free throws with 0.6 seconds left on the clock for the win.

“If you shy away, that’s when anxiety will come and haunt you, I won’t shy away. Being secure in myself, my faith, my family, I’m not going to be afraid of anything,” Guy said, according to USA Today.

This was Texas Tech’s first trip to the NCAA finals trying to break the mold of being a football school after producing NFL players such as MVP Patrick Mahomes.

“We defied the odds and put in the work to get here. I’m gonna keep my head held high hoping that people will finally give us the respect we deserve,” Tariq Owens, forward for the Red Raiders, said, according to ESPN.

Going into the tournament, the most popular favorite was Duke. Around 40% of brackets had Duke making it to the final.

However, their season was ended in the Elite Eight with a 68-67 loss to Michigan State.

Despite having three potential NBA lottery picks on their team, Duke still fell in a game that saw various lead changes right up to the end.

Duke players R.J. Barrett and Zion Williamson were the first freshmen to average 20 plus points on the same team. Both have since declared for the NBA draft.

“To me it’s disappointing, it’s not a disappointing year, there’s a big difference. This team put themselves in a position to go for it and had a chance for it. And, so, it’s disappointing that they didn’t get there. But I’m proud of them,” Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski, said, according to ESPN.

Zion Williamson also commented on the unexpected loss.

“We’re very upset obviously because we wanted to go to the Final Four, but congrats to Michigan State. They deserved it. They played a hell of a game, You just look around the locker room and see your teammates and your brothers and you just think this group will probably never going to play together again,” said Williamson, according to ESPN.

Oregon was one of the most surprising teams in the tournament. Ranked as a 12 seed they proceeded to make it to the Elite Eight before losing to the eventual champion Virginia.

The Ducks were led by Bol Bol, the son of former NBA player Manute Bol. He has also since declared for the draft.

This year has led to many upsets as usual but in the end, Texas Tech broke the mold and Virginia got their redemption.