On Monday, April 8, the Virginia Cavaliers faced the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the NCAA National Championship game. Before, the two teams had pushed their way through the grueling 5 rounds of 40-minute basketball.

Most recently, the Virginia Cavaliers faced the Auburn Tigers on Saturday, April 6. The Texas Tech Red Raiders played the Michigan State Spartans. Virginia won their game by 1 after a controversial non-call on a double-dribble by Ty Jerome. Kyle Guy then went on to win the game after being fouled by Samir Doughty. Texas Tech won their game, 61-51, after a late flurry of points from Jarrett Culver.

The first half of the NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship ended 32-29 in favor of the Cavaliers. Both teams struggled greatly when in possession of the basketball. Virginia made 41.4% of their shots and the Red Raiders shot 33.3% from the floor. The game started with sloppy offense by both teams. After about 10 minutes, the shots started falling. Kyle Guy led Virginia with 10 points. Brandone Francis and Davide Moretti led Texas Tech with 8 points each.

In the second half, Virginia started off hot due to an outburst from Kyle Guy. Texas Tech tried to make the comeback with two quick lay-ups and two three-pointers. However, their burst was cut by De’Andre Hunter and Kyle Guy. As the teams went back and forth, Virginia kept their slight lead. Eventually, Texas Tech tied the game with three and a half minutes left in the game. Both teams went back and forth, the game came down to the wire. De’Andre Hunter hit a clutch, game tying, three pointer with around 10-seconds left. Texas Tech’s last second shot was blocked, and the game was headed to overtime, 68-68.

Just like the rest of the game, each team kept taking shot after shot, blow after blow, at each other. What was expected to be a low-scoring defensive game turned into a high-paced offensive battle. With 40 seconds left, Virginia took a 4-point lead. Texas Tech then missed a wide open three, and had to start fouling. In the end, Texas Tech couldn’t down the clutch threes, and Virginia kept on adding free throws. The 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Champions are the Virginia Cavaliers!

With a final score of 85-77, the game that was thought to be defensive and low scoring turned out to be a great game. The fans cheered as the confetti fell and the players celebrated. 388 days after becoming the first ever 1-seed to lose to a 16-seed, Virginia redeemed itself by winning its first ever national championship. On the other hand, tears were shed by the Red Raiders and their fans. No matter the result, this was an amazing high-paced, very entertaining game, that will surely go down in history as one of the greats. It was truly fitting for an amazing month of March Madness.