Oddsmakers have weighed in on Monday night’s National Championship Game. According to the Westgate Las Vegas Super Book, UVA has opened as a 1-point favorite over Texas Tech. The over-under is set at 120 points. After the Virginia Cavaliers punched their ticket to play for the title earlier in the evening, they had to wait for the outcome of the nightcap between the Michigan State Spartans and Texas Tech Red Raiders. Texas Tech went to win 61-51, setting up a National Championship game against UVA. Tip-off is set for 9:00 p.m. and will be televised on CBS. It was the Spartans that jumped out to a 16-11 lead behind Matt McQuaid and Cassius Winston. The lead quickly evaporated with Matt Mooney doing most of the damage, sending Texas Tech to the locker room with 23-21 lead at the half. Michigan State tied the game to open the second half, but Davide Moretti had a 5-0 run on his own to put the Red Raiders up 28-23 with 17:40 to play. Three threes in a row by Mooney gave Texas Tech a 48-35 lead with 9:40 to play, but with 7:59 left, Xavier Tillman’s three cut the Red Raiders led to 50-41. Michigan State cut it to within one before Texas Tech scored the final nine points in the game. UVA advanced to play in Monday night’s National Title game in true Cardiac Cavs fashion. With under a second to play, the Virginia Cavaliers topped the Auburn Tigers in the Final Four to punch their ticket to the national title game. After seeing their 10-point lead evaporate, UVA called timeout with 1.5 seconds left, trailing by two points. Kyle Guy’s buzzer-beating three missed, but he was fouled by Samir Doughty with 0.6 seconds left. After making the first two free throws to tie the game at 62, Auburn called timeout to ice Guy and set up one last play. Guy drilled it and the Tigers didn’t get a clean look as the final buzzer sounded, punching UVA’s ticket to Monday night’s national title game. The Wahoos were led in scoring by Ty Jerome, who finished with 21 points, nine rebounds, six assists, and a blocked shot. Kyle Guy finished with 15 points and De’Andre Hunter had 14 in the victory, While Mamadi Diakite had just two points in the win, he had six rebounds and a career-high five blocks in the game.<doc-sep>Corrections & Clarifications: A previous version of this column included an incorrect reference to Wisconsin’s NCAA Tournament history. MINNEAPOLIS — We are fortunate to live in an era of the most beautiful basketball ever played; an athletic spectacle that pleases the eye with end-to-end speed, freedom of movement and a generation of absurd shot creators who have changed the geometry of a 94-by-50-foot court. Of course, if that’s what you want in Monday night’s NCAA national title game, you should probably look elsewhere. In college basketball this year, pace-and-space has been defeated by hold-and-hack. The only thing certain about Texas Tech and Virginia playing for a championship is that it will be ugly, a game only the hardcores who appreciate defensive stances, crisp rotations and contested end-of-shot-clock jumpers could love. In its own way, it might be entertaining. There is something oddly satisfying about the rigidity of Virginia basketball put under pressure, about how the hellacious Red Raiders make every cut, every pass, every rim attack so dang difficult by shrinking the court and snuffing out what opponents want to do. But as basketball at nearly every level moves toward a style that intentionally opens up the court and welcomes made baskets, there is legitimate fear that Monday’s game will leave the college world asking a highly relevant question: Is this really the best we’ve got? “I’ve watched a lot of Virginia games just as a fan,” Texas Tech coach Chris Beard said. “From time to time, we’ll come into the office in the morning and somebody will be like, ‘Man, did you see that game? 11 points in the first half last night.’ Then we’ll run into the film room and watch some tape.’” At least that makes one of you. TITLE GAME PREVIEW:Breaking down Texas Tech vs. Virginia RIGHT CALL:Official gets last-second foul on Auburn correct PRESSURE MOMENT:Kyle Guy was 'terrified' taking winning free throws But given the current state of affairs in college basketball, where the most gifted NBA prospects tend to cluster at a small number of programs and barely get settled into their dorm rooms before it’s time to start draft prep, it’s no surprise coaches like Beard and Virginia’s Tony Bennett have taken a sledgehammer to the talent gap. While today’s college players have grown up watching an evolved professional game that favors the most skilled teams, they enter a college environment where the court is tightly packed because of a shorter three-point line, officials allow lots of contact and defenders are allowed to clog the lane at their leisure because there’s no three-second rule that forces them to leave the paint. Even its best, college basketball can be a slog to watch. And when you get teams like Virginia and Texas Tech that are so committed to offensive asphyxiation, a Final Four game can more closely resemble hand-to-hand combat than the sport being played by Steph Curry and Russell Westbrook. Over the course of Saturday’s semifinals, nobody would have blamed you for watching a pair of future NBA lottery picks in Texas Tech’s Jarrett Culver and Virginia’s De’Andre Hunter and asking, “What’s the big deal about these guys?” because of how they were neutralized for such long stretches. Though both eventually made an impact — Hunter with a run of eight points early in the second half and Culver with six in a row in crunchtime to redeem a 3-for-12 shooting performance — it could serve as Exhibit A for why these teams play that style to begin with. Bennett, who played three seasons in the NBA, largely shunned those influences when he got into coaching because he saw first-hand how his father, Dick, turned Green Bay into a winner and in 2000 got Wisconsin to the Final Four for the first time in 59 years.. His so-called “pack line” defense, which is designed to force teams to play the game outside of an imaginary circle, is ideal when you don’t have the most talented players because it’s essentially a bet that the vast majority of college kids won’t be disciplined or skilled enough to figure it out. “Defense can be an equalizer,” Bennett said. “At all levels not many teams advance without being strong defensively, even in the NBA. But that’s what I knew and I’ve seen it work and be successful, but that probably sealed it for me as I watched the success come.” Texas Tech also wants to take away shots in the paint but gets there in a different way, with more of an attacking defense that will push ballhandlers back and angle them to the side with a variety of switches and traps designed to make people play faster than they want. The Red Raiders allow a scant 83.3 points per 100 possessions per Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted efficiency, making them perhaps the best defense we’ve ever seen in the analytics era. “We have interchangeable parts,” Beard said. “We don’t have guys who are ones, twos, threes, four, fives defensively. That allows us to switch and guard different people and stuff like that, and we try to recruit to it.” This isn’t meant to indict the stylistic choices of these two programs because, in the end, what they do defensively can win championships in the college game. Bennett and Beard are only doing their jobs. But new basketball frontiers are being opened regularly in the NBA, in Europe and even in the G-League, where a six-figure salary is being sold to top high school players as an alternative path to the pros. Players like Zion Williamson will soon be allowed to enter the draft out of high school, continuing the talent drain out of future NCAA tournaments. In reality, Virginia-Texas Tech probably isn’t a one-off but rather a preview of where the college game is headed. The winner, of course, will find it beautiful. The rest of us will see a sport being left behind.<doc-sep>MINNEAPOLIS — It all comes down to this: Virginia vs. Texas Tech for the national championship Monday night. The Cavaliers, the lone No. 1 seed left, won a second consecutive nail-biter by escaping Auburn 63-62 Saturday off Kyle Guy’s three game-winning free throws with 0.6 seconds left. It came a week after UVA clipped Purdue in overtime in the Elite Eight thanks to Mamadi Diakite’s game-tying buzzer-beater. The Red Raiders, meanwhile, stifled a favored Michigan State team, 61-51 in their Final Four clash. That came after the Spartans had ousted the tournament’s top overall seed in Duke last weekend. But just like in a win over Gonzaga in the Elite Eight, Texas Tech's defense was too much and its offense just enough. Expect Monday’s title game to be a defensive battle of epic proportions. Virginia and Texas Tech pride themselves on smothering opponents. Saturday marked the first time since the shot clock started in 1986 that any of the four national semifinal teams failed to reach 65 points, according to CBS. Breaking down the final: How the Cavaliers can win: Virginia’s nation-leading pack-line defense (limiting opponents to 55 points a game) is contingent upon keeping other teams out of the paint and offsetting tempo. But now it meets a team in Texas Tech that’s unlike the ACC teams it regularly slowed down. TTU presents an offense that scores more in spurts — so discipline will be even more important. Coach Tony Bennett felt his team made mistakes on defense against Auburn, and hinted that dictating offensive pace will be a difference-maker. More:Kyle Guy's inner strength helps Virginia reach national championship game Opinion:Official gets last-second call right, and Virginia gets Final Four win over Auburn One key for the Cavs will be avoiding turnovers and playing smart against a defense that rivals its own. That starts with point guards Ty Jerome and Kihei Clark. Another will be getting offense from its top guys — Jerome, Guy and De’Andre Hunter. The reason UVA was even positioned to win at the last second against Auburn was those three combined for 50 points. Virginia’s role players will have to step up, too. Diakite (two points) was quiet on Saturday and an ineffective Jack Salt was an offensive no-show who dealt with foul trouble. How the Red Raiders can win: Coach Chris Beard’s team leads the nation in defensive efficiency, per KenPom, and has put together one of the most impressive defensive showings in NCAA tournament history. Texas Tech does more than turn the ball over and take teams out of offensive rhythm. The Red Raiders make it hard to breathe with their length and ball pressure to the point where it clearly affects an opponent’s psyche as it did with Michigan State and its floor general, Cassius Winston. More:Texas Tech AD Kirby Hocutt says schools has resources to keep Chris Beard More:Chris Beard bullish on Texas Tech's NCAA tournament title chances after Final Four win The instant offense of TTU’s NBA talent, Jarrett Culver, will also be critical; Culver only had 10 points in the win vs. MSU, but his decisive 3-pointer with 58 seconds left effectively sealed the game. If he can find an offensive rhythm, and marksman Davide Moretti can make outside shots, that could be enough offense for the Red Raiders to “upset” Virginia. Key player for UVA: Ty Jerome. While Guy was the hero vs. Auburn for his last-second free throws and clutch 3-point shooting, Jerome was once again the overshadowed star — finishing with 21 points, nine rebounds and six assists. His running jump shot with 6:46 remaining and a 3-pointer with 5:24 left were momentum-shifters. And it’s hard to forget the impact of Jerome’s performance against Purdue — 24 points, seven assists. Jerome has a clutch gene that could decide the game against the Red Raiders, and how he runs the team will be vital. Maybe it is not a coincidence that when he went to the bench after his fourth foul with 4:32 remaining, Auburn started its comeback from a nine-point deficit. Key player for TTU: Matt Mooney. While Culver, Big 12 player of the year, has drawn most of Texas Tech’s headlines and Moretti has been a big-time shot-maker, Mooney’s been steady running the point all season. The 23-year-old grad transfer from South Dakota stepped up on the big stage Saturday, matching his season-high with 22 points. His three 3-pointers over a span of three minutes helped the Red Raiders build a 13-point lead midway through the second half. He’s important against Virginia because he can break out offensively when necessary and his veteran poise helps this team not look rattled when other teams start turning the game’s momentum. The pick: Virginia. Defense will be the main theme. But what has gotten the Cavaliers to this position is not on the stat sheet. The program has fed off the heartbreak of last year’s UMBC loss. While Virginia’s last two wins have come at the last second and in overtime, the players believe their fortune will be determined by something outside the lines. “Maybe it’s a fate, maybe it’s destiny,” Jerome said. “That loss we had last year (to UMBC) took us to a place we’ve never been before. We were in the gym every day. If you were with us, you wouldn’t believe it.”<doc-sep>Stacy Revere/Getty Images Patrick Mahomes is in the crowd for Monday's national championship game between the Texas Tech Red Raiders and Virginia Cavaliers, but he isn't the only one in attendance with quite the arm. According to Oskar Garcia of the Associated Press, the game was paused in the first half when someone from the Texas Tech student section threw a tortilla shell onto the court. Garcia noted security had to take away a number of tortillas from fans after the incident. Nate Scott of USA Today's For the Win explained it is a Texas Tech tradition to throw tortilla shells onto the field at football games, so this wasn't just a random act. Air Raid offense on the gridiron, hard-nosed defense on the hardwood and tortilla-throwing in the crowd. It's just what Texas Tech does.<doc-sep>
Texas Tech and UVA are minutes away from tipping off in Minneapolis in the 2019 college basketball National Championship Game. Both squads are entering the NCAA Final for the first time in program history, and with two defensive masterminds at the helm, this game is set to be a captivating chess match. Virginia’s road to redemption began after their embarrassment in the 2018 NCAA Tournament and will conclude here tonight, win or lose. Texas Tech, meanwhile, is aiming to put their name on the college basketball map with authority. National Championship Game Texas Tech vs. Virginia (-1.5) When: Monday, April 8 Where: U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, Minnesota Time: 9:20 p.m. ET TV: CBS Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free) The Final Four told two different tales in terms of how the Cavaliers and the Red Raiders came to be in the decisive showdown. Top-ranked Virginia pulled off a second-half turnaround to just about edge #5 Auburn 63-62, while third-seed Texas Tech confidently beat #2 Michigan State by 10 points. Senior guard Matt Mooney rained down 22 points in Texas Tech’s Final Four debut—they made it to the Elite Eight for the first time in 2018—and will hope to impress once more in what promises to be a tight contest. He picked up the slack on a night when leading scorer Jarrett Culver only mustered 10 points, proving that the Red Raiders are a dynamic group. But Texas Tech’s greatest asset is coach Chris Beard and the impact he’s had on their rate of success. In his third season at the helm, Beard continues to break new ground with the school, who have a record 31 wins this year. He’s created a defensive system that swarms and suffocates opponents, and ranks as the best defensive team since KenPom.com began tracking defensive efficiency in 2002. Virginia is also making their National Championship debut after their third trip to the Final Four. They’re the narrow favorites to win on Monday, and narrow is all they’ve needed the get here. Seemingly on the brink of elimination against Purdue in the Elite Eight and Auburn in the Final Four, UVA managed to get game-saving shots from Mamadi Diakite and Kyle Guy to keep them alive. Virginia is 34-3 this season, and have come a long way since their first-round flameout in 2018. After becoming the first #1 seed to lose to a #16 seed in NCAA Tournament history, UVA responded with a calm and disciplined approach coupled with a never-say-die attitude. They also sport a top-5 defense, but unlike Texas Tech, their offensive efficiency is one of the highest in the nation, which could spell the difference in who cuts down the nets. That being said, Texas Tech has found a way to shut down the major weapons of almost every attack they’ve faced this season and have to pull off one more trick to complete their fairytale finish. The Cavaliers will hope their cast of under-appreciated stars can light the way to a first-ever college basketball National Championship, but Texas Tech has an underdog’s drive running firmly in their favor. It’s a defensive matchup for the ages, and if the previous rounds are any indication, it’s going to be a classic. It will be a slow paced, low scoring game where defense will be at the forefront. While Texas Tech is cruising along right now, I don’t see Virginia stopping them. Don’t forget, Auburn would have won the game outright without that last second foul. I’m taking the Texas Tech Red Raiders (+1.5). We recommend interesting sports viewing and streaming opportunities. If you sign up to a service by clicking one of the links, we may earn a referral fee.