Cavaliers win National Championship over Red Raiders in Minnesota

By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher

The No. 1 seed Virginia Cavaliers defeated the No. 3 seed Texas Tech Red Raiders on Monday night. The Cavaliers won 85-77 over the Red Raiders in the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

This is the biggest tournament turnaround in history. One year ago, the Cavaliers became the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed in the UMBC Retrievers in the history of the tournament.

Virginia now has their first Men’s Basketball National Championship.

De’Andre Hunter led the Cavaliers with 27 points. He also had nine rebounds, one assist, and one steal.

This was Hunter’s first 20-point performance in six games. He had 23 points against the Gardner Webb Bulldogs in a 71-56 win on March 22.

He had a season-high 26 points in a 64-52 win over the Louisville Cardinals on Feb. 23.

Hunter was one of three Virginia players, who scored in double-digits. Kyle Guy — who was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament — had 24 points and Ty Jerome had 16 points.

The Cavaliers had six bench points. Braxton Key had all six bench points. He also had 10 rebounds and two assists.

Brandone Francis led the Red Raiders with 17 points. He also had four rebounds.

This was Francis’ first double-digit game in nine games, as he had 12 points in a 70-51 win over the Texas Longhorns on March 4. His season-high is 16 points in an 81-50 win over the West Virginia Mountaineers on Feb. 4.

Francis was one of five Texas Tech players to score in double-figures. Jarrett Culver and Davide Moretti had 15 points each.

Kyler Edwards scored 12 and Matt Mooney had 10.

The Red Raiders had 29 bench points. Francis led the bench with his 17 points.