Last Dance: Virginia Takes Texas Tech in OT; Their Past Is Now History

As always, throughout the course of a big game so tightly fought that it coulda gone either way, there was a blocked dunk here and a rim-roller there that was just as fateful as anything at the end.

It was near the end of regulation, though, that one decisive shot stands above all others.

Because it rarely happened for the first 39 minutes, and it was shocking that it happened in crunch time.

 

The essence of the Red Raider defensive scheme is similar to hockey's 1-2-2 trapping system that North Americans term the left-wing lock. The purpose is to channel the ball handler into a situation where he has only one option to pursue, at which point the defense pressure's him into a rash decision.

As the Hoos brought the ball downcourt with under 20 seconds left and trailing by three, Tech's defense lost its shape.

In his zeal to stop a lay-in, Jarett Culver left his assignment in the corner, giving Ty Jerome two options:

 

A lifesaver. It can be argued this was the turning point.

Slightly more organized than Mamadi Diakite's short-range Hail Mary that put the Purdue game into overtime, and with the same ultimate result.

 

Maybe Culver tried to overcompensate on the return when he made another ill-advised decision to launch from afar with six seconds left.

Didn't go. Overtime ensued. Virginia pulled away at the end, posting an 85-77 victory for a championship that was surely more deeply appreciated than any non-Hoo fan could truly grasp.

 

 

Seems like it.

This:

 

There was 1:06 left in overtime with the Hoos up, 75-73. A long Virginia rebound got tracked down by Davide Moretti, who in turn got chased down by the game's outstanding player, De'Andre Hunter.

Enter the rules of instant replay for college hoops:

• Referees can reverse an out-of-bounds call, but
• They're not allowed to retroactively call a foul.

 

So it is that the Cavaliers can figuratively bury a few ghosts.

And so it is that we've possibily seen another program on the rise for as long as Texas Tech can keep Chris Beard.