Virginia beats Auburn in Final Four on Kyle Guy free throws with less than a second left
THE WASHINGTON POST
Kyle Guy draws a foul by Samir Doughty on a three-pointer with less than a second remaining and the Cavaliers trailing by two. (John McDonnell/The Washington Post)
MINNEAPOLIS — It was a boyhood dream come true for Virginia guard Kyle Guy.
The junior had practiced countless times for this moment, with the outcome in his hands on college basketball’s grandest stage, the Final Four. Guy needed to make three free throws to extend the season and produce yet another cardiac finish for the top-seeded Cavaliers.
“Kind of had that feeling in your stomach,” he said. “Like a good nervousness.”
Guy proceeded to make all three foul shots with six-tenths of a second to play, and No. 5 seed Auburn was unable to get off a shot before the final horn, triggering a wild celebration among Cavaliers players following the 63-62 win on Saturday night.
The triumph sends Virginia (34-3) to Monday night’s national championship game against Texas Tech at U.S. Bank Stadium. It is the first title game for both teams.
Getting there included the Cavaliers wasting a 10-point lead in the final 5:03 before Tigers guard Samir Doughty was called for a foul trying to guard Guy during a three-point attempt from the left corner.
Moments earlier, guard Jared Harper had made 1 of 2 free throws to put Auburn (30-10) ahead 62-60 with seven seconds to play in a game that included a bit of late-game officiating controversy.
Replays showed Cavaliers guard Ty Jerome appearing to double-dribble before being fouled with about five seconds left, but officials did not call it, providing the Cavaliers with an enormous break in their first Final Four appearance since 1984.
“We were in a situation late where we had some fouls to give, and I knew there was a disruption there,” Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl said when asked whether he thought Jerome had double-dribbled. “You’ve just got to get on to the next play.”
The Tigers had erased a 57-47 deficit by scoring 14 in a row down the stretch, with Bryce Brown’s three-pointer putting Auburn ahead 59-57 with 1:56 to go. The senior guard made three three-pointers during the surge.
Anfernee McLemore made two free throws for Auburn with 17 seconds left for a 61-57 lead before Guy sank a three-pointer from in front the Cavaliers’ bench to pull Virginia within a point with 7.4 seconds to play.
That field goal provided Virginia with its first points in more than five minutes on a play Coach Tony Bennett drew up during a stoppage.
“These last two games, oh my, how they ended,” Bennett said, referring to Virginia’s 80-75 win over Purdue last weekend in the South Region final that required Mamadi Diakite’s buzzer-beater to go to overtime. “We got up 10 [against the Tigers], and they made some tough shots, and we had a couple of, I think we stood a little bit, and we had a couple of tough plays. We played well in the second half.
“I do feel for Auburn, but I feel better for us right now.”
Guy finished with 15 points, second on Virginia behind Jerome’s 21. Jerome made 4 of 9 three-pointers and added nine rebounds and six assists while dealing with foul trouble in the second half.
“To think this time last year we were starting our spring workouts,” Jerome said, “and to still be playing at this point in the season with, after tonight, one other team in the whole country on the stage that you dreamed about since you were a little kid, it’s an unreal feeling.”
The Cavaliers had claimed their largest advantage on Jerome’s three-pointer with 5:22 to play, leading to a timeout from Pearl. Jerome then walked to the Virginia bench with arms raised, urging the Cavaliers’ fans to make even more noise.
An uptick in defensive pressure helped the Cavaliers pull ahead early after a 31-28 halftime deficit.
They did not permit Auburn to score for the first 5:46 coming out of halftime, bothering the Tigers by getting hands on loose balls, forcing deflections, going under screens and guarding man-to-man with extra vigor.
The Tigers went eight consecutive possessions without a point to open the second half.
De’Andre Hunter handled the bulk of the scoring for Virginia during a 12-5 burst in that time with three baskets in the painted area, including grabbing an offensive rebound and putting it back to grow the advantage to 40-36.
“I thought his second half was key for us,” Bennett said of the ACC defensive player of the year. “De’Andre really did the things we needed, got us different kinds of baskets, whether he could drive, got a couple of offensive rebounds, and really a very strong second half for sure.”
Hunter finished with 14 points, including 10 in the second half, on 7-for-11 shooting. The sophomore guard-forward made all five of his field goal attempts in the second half.
Guy’s winning free throws, his only attempts in the game, came on a night when Virginia went just 6 for 12 from the foul line.
But Guy is a nearly 80-percent free throw shooter for his career, and he calmly sank the shots while attempting to block out the screams from Auburn supporters desperately hoping for him to miss.
Just like he had done over and again in an empty gym, at the playground or in his driveway growing up in basketball-crazy Indianapolis.
“We all trust Kyle,” Cavaliers reserve forward Braxton Key said. “He’s one of the best free throw shooters on the team. We have confidence in him. We knew he was going to make all three.”
Jerome carried the Cavaliers offensively in the first half, scoring 13 points, but he didn’t get much help. Thus Virginia trailed, 31-28, at halftime after the Tigers closed on a 14-6 push that featured three-point field goals from Doughty and McLemore.
“I mean, I don’t know what’s destined,” Diakite said. “We somehow ended up winning, every crazy shot, every crazy game, like that.”
— Gene Wang
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