Virginia holds off Texas Tech in overtime for first NCAA
national championship-Apr
8, 2019
Virginia overcame a Texas Tech comeback in the second half and
outlasted the Red Raiders in overtime to capture their first
national men's basketball championship Monday, with an 85-77
victory in Minneapolis.De'Andre Hunter(6'7''-G-97) hit two critical threes
with the Cavaliers on their heels late, both in regulation and
in overtime, and his 27 points led the team. Star guardKyle Guy(6'2''-G-97) had 24. Brandone Francis led
the Red Raiders with 17, ]De'Andre Hunternailed a three-point jumper to put
Virginia up two with just over two minutes to go, spurring
Virginia ahead for good.Ty Jerome(6'5''-G-97) drew a foul on a driving
runner with about 40 seconds to go and nailed both free-throws,
extending the Virginia lead to four.Brandone Francis(6'5''-G-95) attempted a three in
response from the corner, but caught the front of the rim. Free
throws from there sealed it for the Cavaliers.Matt Mooney(6'3''-G) had hit a pair of shots to
score five points to open the extra period for Texas Tech,
giving the Red Raiders a brief three-point lead with about three
minutes left. The defensive-minded teams found their offensive
flow at end of the second half, trading a handful of buckets in
the final minutes. Facing a pressure-packed 1-and-1,Norense Odiase(6'8''-C-95) made both free-throw
attempts to give Texas Tech a three-point lead with 20 seconds
to go. But Virginia'sDe'Andre Hunterhit a clutch game-tying three on the
other end of the court 10 seconds later. A last-second attempt
by Texas Tech'sJarrett Culver(6'5''-G) was blocked. The Red Raiders
first went ahead on Culver's driving layup with 35 seconds to
go. The Cavaliers had held a lead as large as eight midway
through the second half. Both schools were going for their first
national titles backed by their hard-nosed defenses that were
among the best in the nation. The result gives the NCAA
Tournament its first first-time champion since coach Billy
Donovan won it all with Florida in 2006. Texas Tech reached the
Elite Eight for the first time last season and Virginia lost its
previous two trips to the Final Four, in 1981 and 1984. The last
time two teams who had never won a championship played in the
title game was Michigan State against Indiana State in 1979.
That's right, Magic Johnson vs. Larry Bird. Courtesy of:
wlox.com
East Defeats West in Thrilling Reese's College All-Star Game-Apr
6, 2019
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -Ahmad Caver(6'2''-G) from Old Dominion was named the
Reese's East MVP leading the East All-Stars to a 110-105 win
over the West in the Reese's College All-Star Game at US Bank
Stadium. Ahmad Caverfinished with 12 points, a
game-high nine assists and five rebounds to win the honor for
the East while Chris Clemons from Campbell was named the West's
Reese's MVP as he finished with a game-high 25 points. James Palmer Jr.(6'6''-G-96), Jr. from
Nebraska led the East with 21 points while Cornell's Matt Morgan
added 15 points andDevontae Cacok(6'7''-F-96) from UNC Wilmington added 14
points and six rebounds in the win.Jarrell Brantley(6'7''-F-96) from the College of
Charleston had a game-high 15 rebounds to lead the East.
Houston'sCorey Davis(6'1''-PG), Jr. added 15 points for the
West whileShizz Alston(6'4''-G-96), Jr. from Temple added 14
points.Jordan Murphy(6'7''-F-97) from Minnesota had a
double-double with 13 points and a team-high 13 rebounds.Galen Robinson(6'0''-PG), Jr. from Houston led the
West with seven assists. The East, which trailed 53-50 at the
half, would take the lead for good using a 12-1 run turning a
58-52 deficit into a 64-69 lead with 16:24 left. The East shot
46.2 percent from the floor (42-91) while making 12 of 39 from
3-point range while the West shot 44.7 percent (38-85) and made
18 of 53 from behind the arc. The East team was coached byNate Robinsonwhile the West was coached byJason Terry.
South Florida Beats DePaul 77-65 in Game 3 to Win 2019 CBI
Championship-Apr
5, 2019
The University of South Florida Bulls defeated the DePaul Blue
Demons 77-65 at McGrath-Phillips Arena in Chicago on Friday
night, claiming the 2019 College Basketball Invitational
Championship. Sophomore guardDavid Collins(6'3''-G-98) led the way for USF with
19 points, eight rebounds and five assists. DePaul was without
senior guardElijah Cain(6'6''-G-96), who dislocated his elbow and
wrist in Game 2, but got back redshirt sophomore guardDevin Gage(6'2''-G) after he was cleared from a head
injury. Gage started the game and tied Collins to lead all
scorers with 19 points. The Bulls held a 37-20 lead at the 6:22
mark in the first half, but DePaul ripped off a 14-2 run to make
it a much more manageable 39-34 at halftime. The Blue Demons
kept it close for the majority of the second half, but were
unable to gain a lead before USF pulled away again-this time,
for good. A third game was needed to decide the tournament's
champion after DePaul tied the series with a 100-96 overtime
victory in Game 2 on Wednesday. This is USF's first CBI
championship. On Monday, USF head coachBrian Gregorylaid out to the Tampa Bay Times' Joey
Knight the long-term plan behind entering the pay-for-play CBI:
We talk about building this thing. And you look at the other
programs that have played in this tournament and what they've
done after. We're trying to follow that same path. ... The facts
are, we weren't good enough or experienced enough to go to the
NCAA Tournament this year, or the NIT. So this was our next-best
option for us. Per Knight, seven of 11 former CBI champions have
won at least 20 games the following season while three of them
reached the NCAA Tournament. Most notably, VCU won the 2010 CBI
and in 2010-11, VCU made it to the Final Four. While aiming for
next year's Final Four is extremely aspirational, USF can be
encouraged by the progress the program is making in just two
seasons under Gregory. After the Bulls clinched the CBI title,
Knight relayed that USF winning 14 more games (24-14) than last
season (10-22) is the NCAA's largest win improvement in 2018-19.
Gregory and USF will only lose three seniors, none of whom
started on Friday night, making USF a potential March Cinderella
in the near future. Courtesy of:
bleacherreport.com
Texas races past Lipscomb to win NIT championship, 81-66-Apr
4, 2019
While the 2018-19 season for Texas andShaka Smartdidn't live up to expectations,
Smart's fourth campaign on the Forty Acres ends with the
Longhorns making the most of their berth in the National
Invitation Tournament by claiming the program's first
postseason championship in 41 years. Te\as defeated Lipscomb
in the championship game of the 2019 NIT at New York City's
Madison Square Garden Thursday night, 81-66. The win marks
the first NIT title for the Longhorns since 1978. Texas
(21-16) finishes the season on a five-game winning streak -
the longest of the season since the Longhorns came out of
the gate to the tune of a 5-0 start - and ends the season
with the highest victory total by a burnt orange-clad squad
in five years (the 2013-14 group went 24-11 under Rick
Barnes). Facing one of the nation's highest-scoring teams in
regular-season Atlantic Sun champion Lipscomb (29-8), the
Longhorns used a strong first-half finish to create all of
the separation they needed in order to claim victory. After
the Bison's took a 22-19 lead with 6:42 to go until
halftime, Texas went on a 22-5 scoring run en route to a
14-point halftime lead, 41-27. The Longhorns held the Bisons
to a 1-for-10 shooting effort from the floor during their
run. Lipscomb cut the Texas lead down to seven, but the
Longhorns seemed to have an answer every time the Bisons
threatened to get back in the game. All-American guardGarrison
Matthews(6'5''-G) (held to 15 points on a
2-for-10 shooting performance) hit a pair of free throws to
cut the Texas lead down to nine points, 52-43, with 11:10
remaining regulation. From there, a 3-pointer byKerwin Roach II(6'4''-G-96) II (6'4''-G-96) got
the lead back to 12 points and the Longhorns never
relinquished control of the game. Whatever chances remained
for Lipscomb to make a comeback were crushed as the second
half wore on. Texas knocked down six of eight field goals
during one stretch, including aJase Febres(6'5''-G-99) 3-pointer to cap a 10-0
run and a 360 breakaway dunk by Roach to put the Longhorns
up by 20, 79-59, with 2:33 to play in the game. The
Longhorns played an elite brand of defense over their last
three games of the NIT, including holding TCU to 44 points
(the fewest allowed in the team's 37-game season_ in the
tournament semifinals Tuesday (a 58-44 win). Texas held
Lipscomb to its third-worst shooting performance of the
season as the Bisons hit their shots at a 39.3-percent clip
(48.3-percent shooting team on the season), only the third
time in 37 games they've been held to under 40 percent
shooting. The 66 points scored by Lipscomb was well below
its season average of 83.6 points per game. Texas recorded
nine steals and turned 14 turnovers by the Bisons into 16
points. The Longhorns benefitted from tremendous
performances by Roach andDylan Osetkowski(6'9''-F-96) (6'9''-F-96) in
their final games for the program. Osetkowski scored a
game-high 19 points (a 5-for-10 shooting effort and a
3-for-6 night from 3-point range), grabbed 11 rebounds,
dished out five assists and recorded three steals while
Roach dropped in 16 points (a 6-for-12 shooting night) off
of the bench to go along with nine assists, five rebounds
and two steals. Febres (17 points, four 3-pointers and five
rebounds) andMatt Coleman III(6'2''-G-98) (11 points, seven
assists, four steals and three rebounds) also scored in
double figures for the Longhorns.
Burks lifts Marshall over Green Bay 90-70 to win CIT title-Apr
4, 2019
CJ Burks(6'3''-G-95) scored 28 points as
Marshall romped past Green Bay 90-70 on Thursday night for the
CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament championship.CJ Burksalso had seven rebounds, six assists and
three steals in being named the most valuable player. He had a
steal on back-to-back possessions and his fast-break dunk gave
Marshall a 72-62 midway through the second half.Taevion Kinsey(6'5''-G/F) (6'5''-G/F) added 21 points
for the Thundering Herd (23-14).Jon Elmore(6'3''-G-95) (6'3''-G-95) had 17 points on just
5-of-18 shooting. Marshall was 1 for 12 from 3-point range to
start the game and finished 3 of 26.Shanquan Hemphill(6'6''-G/F) had 21 points for the
Phoenix (21-17).Sandy Cohen III(6'6''-F-95) (6'6''-F-95) III added
13 points - all in the first half - and JayQuan McCloud had 11.
Green Bay led by as many as 13 points in the first half, but
Marshall pulled within 42-40 at the break. Cohen made a
3-pointer early in the first half to move into second on Green
Bay's single-season scoring list, passing Virginia coach Tony
Bennett.
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