Virginia stuns Auburn on controversial 3-shot foul in final second
Auburn was nearly there. So, so close. One second away from the national title game after a remarkable 10-point second-half comeback.
Then it made the most critical mistake of the 2019 NCAA tournament, fouling a 3-point shooter, sending Kyle Guy to the free throw line, and ultimately sending Virginia to the national title game on Monday night.
With Auburn up two, Samir Doughty fouled Guy in the left corner on a 3-point attempt. Guy cooly nailed all three free throws to win the game.
[Best Bracket Millionaire: Who’s going to win it all?]
After a 14-0 Auburn run, Kyle Guy found nylon with a 3 from the right corner with 7.4 seconds left – Virginia’s first points since the 5:22 mark. But it was only enough to get the Cavs within 1.
After a foul on the ensuing inbounds play, Jared Harper knocked down the first free throw, but missed the second, giving Virginia the ball down two. But Auburn, intelligently, fouled – because it had two to give. The Tigers then gave another one with 1.5 seconds left.
But it fouled one two many times. And Virginia, somehow, pulled out the win as boos rained down from the stands in Minneapolis.
Auburn misfires from 3 early, but grabs lead inside arc
As it had against North Carolina and Kentucky in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight, Auburn misfired from 3 early. It started 1-of-11, the only make from Bryce Brown.
But the Tigers scored over a point per possession in the first half against the vaunted Virginia defense because they got to the rim. The Cavaliers had troubled preventing dribble penetration. Auburn shot 9-for-15 inside the arc, and despite its poor long-range accuracy – billed as the most important aspect of its offensive attack – the underdog led by three, 31-28, at halftime.
The first half was relatively uneventful. The second half promised more. At its onset, though, it was an offensive wasteland for Auburn. Coming out of an extended halftime break, the Tigers missed their first eight field goal attempts. They didn’t score for almost six minutes.
Virginia takes control early in second
The drought allowed Virginia to inch ahead. De’Andre Hunter wasn’t his usual active self in the first half. He was explosive early in the second, scoring Virginia’s first two buckets, and emphatically denying Brown at the rim:
Four points from Kihei Clark, two off a steal, pushed the Virginia run to 8-0. But it failed to take further advantage of Auburn’s inefficiency. Jared Harper hit a 3 to end the barren stretch. One possession later, after an Auburn steal and fast-break layup, the game was once again tied.
Virginia, though, kept plugging away. Hunter scored inside after snagging an offensive board in between two Tigers with one hand. He then finished acrobatically with his left to put the Cavaliers back up four.
Ty Jerome extended the lead to seven for the first time with a big 3-pointer inside nine minutes remaining. Another rainbow that rattled home with 5:22 remaining – off a beautiful set play drawn up by the Virginia coaching staff – made it 57-47 in favor of the Cavs.
It was the first double-digit lead for either team, and capped a 13-4 Virginia run that was largely fueled by defense. Harper hit a pull-up 3 that felt like it would get him going. But Clark and Virginia had Auburn’s stars locked down on the perimeter.
Auburn’s comeback
Brown, though, scored his first points of the second half on a 3 with just over four minutes remaining to cut the lead to six. He then hit another from the corner, off an Auburn offensive rebound, to slash Virginia’s advantage to three. And Danjel Purifoy whittled it down to one with a floater on the next possession.
Mamadi Diakite missed two free throws at the other end to give Auburn a chance to take the lead, and the Tigers jumped at that chance. Brown hit another 3, completing the comeback. Virginia kept running poor offense, completing its collapse.
But then the unthinkable happened. The wild final sequence undid it all. Virginia is moving on to play Michigan State or Texas Tech.
