{"id":19527,"date":"2019-04-09T09:15:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-09T09:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/2019\/04\/09\/this-is-a-great-story-says-virginia-cavaliers-coach-on-teams-ncaa-comeback\/"},"modified":"2019-04-09T09:15:00","modified_gmt":"2019-04-09T09:15:00","slug":"this-is-a-great-story-says-virginia-cavaliers-coach-on-teams-ncaa-comeback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/this-is-a-great-story-says-virginia-cavaliers-coach-on-teams-ncaa-comeback\/","title":{"rendered":"‘This Is A Great Story’, Says Virginia Cavaliers’ Coach On Team’s NCAA Comeback"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Cat Schuknecht<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\n Virginia’s Kyle Guy celebrates after helping his team defeat Texas Tech in the NCAA championship tournament. The title game finished in overtime \u2013 a first since the University of Kansas beat the University of Memphis in 2008.<\/p>\n


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Announcers called it the “all-time turnaround title.”<\/p>\n

On Monday night in Minneapolis, the Virginia Cavaliers took home the NCAA tournament championship title in a dramatic 85-77 overtime defeat of the Texas Tech Red Raiders.<\/p>\n

“This is a great story,” said Virginia’s coach, Tony Bennett in a post-game interview. “The credit goes to these young men.”<\/p>\n

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A very witty Virginia fan is waving this sign around at U.S. Bank Stadium. @UMBCAthletics<\/a> must be proud. pic.twitter.com\/G9M4IbmRvB<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Kyle Boone (@Kyle__Boone) April 9, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n

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It was a big comeback after last year’s tournament, when the University of Virginia team lost<\/a> to University of Maryland, Baltimore County in an early round \u2013 the first time a No. 16 had ever beat a No. 1 seed team.<\/p>\n

As the overtime clock hit 0:00, Virginia player De’Andre Hunter \u2013 who scored a career-high<\/a> 27 points \u2013 threw the basketball into the air in celebration. Confetti rained down, then the winning team cut down<\/a> the basketball net, fulfilling an NCAA championship tradition<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The road to this moment was rocky for both teams. Virginia had close calls against Purdue and Auburn, and Texas Tech made it to the playoffs after losing their first conference tournament game.<\/p>\n

But both teams showed up in full force on Monday night. So did their fans. Notable alumni from both schools came out to support their teams, including NFL quarterback and Texas Tech University alumni Patrick Mahomes, and University of Virginia-grad Katie Couric, AP reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At one point, a fan threw a tortilla \u2013 a Texas Tech school tradition \u2013 that landed on the elevated court, causing play to stop temporarily.<\/p>\n