MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Now that, Virginia, is the way to close out a season.
And quiet those critics, too.
Led by DeAndre Hunter and his NBA-ready game, the Cavaliers turned themselves into national champions Monday night, holding off tenacious, ferocious Texas Tech for an 85-77 overtime win a scintillating victory that came 388 days after a crushing setback that might have sunk a lesser team for years.
But Virginia was better than that.
A season after becoming the first No. 1 seed to lose to a 16 the one thing that had never happened in a tournament where anything can the Cavaliers watched a 10-point lead turn into a 3-point deficit before Hunter came to the rescue. The sophomore made the game-tying 3 with 12.1 seconds left in regulation, then made another with just over two minutes left in the extra period to give the Cavs the lead for good.
Surreal, Hunter called it.
Its a goal we started out with at the beginning of the season. We knew we were going to bounce back from last year. We achieved our dreams.
After going scoreless for the first 18½ minutes, Hunter finished with a career-high 27 points, and if he leaves as a lottery pick well, what a way to go out.
He helped the Cavs bring home the first NCAA title for a program with a colorful, star-crossed and, now, very winning history.
Nothing came easily appropriate given where Virginia has been over the last year, since its history making loss to University of Maryland-Baltimore County in the first round of last years tournament.
Each of its 35 wins, and each of the teams scant three losses, were all punctuated by the reminder that only the end result would serve as the ultimate report card on whether the Cavs could truly shed the baggage of last year.
What a ride this was. A 1 seed once again, they fell behind by 14 early to 16th-seeded Gardner-Webb in this years opening round, and a nightmare seemed to be unfolding. But this time, they overcame it. Then, they beat Purdue in the Elite Eight when the game looked lost, and did the same against Auburn on Saturday getting bailed out by a foul call and Kyle Guys three free throws with 0.6 seconds left.
I told them, I just want a chance at a title fight one day, Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. Thats all I want. … Youre never alone in the hills and the valleys we faced that in the last year.
Hunters key 3 in OT gave Virginia a 75-73 lead, and after the teams traded possessions, Tech guard Davide Moretti scrambled after a loose ball heading onto Virginias end of the court. It appeared it would be Texas Tech ball, but a replay showed Morettis pinkie finger had barely scraped the ball. Virginia got possession, and worked the ball into Ty Jerome, who got fouled and made two free throws.
Brandone Francis missed a 3 on the other end, and Virginia pulled away the first time this game felt remotely comfortable, even after Guy made a 3 to give the Cavs a 10-point lead with 10:22 left in regulation.
