Mar 30, 2019; Louisville, KY, United States; Virginia Cavaliers forward Mamadi Diakite (25) dunks as Purdue Boilermakers guard Carsen Edwards (3) looks on during the first half in the championship game of the south regional of the 2019 NCAA Tournament at KFC Yum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports
March 31, 2019
Virginia needed a wild buzzer-beating play to force overtime and had to survive a scoring onslaught by Purdue guard Carsen Edwards to advance to its first Final Four since 1984.
The top-seeded Cavaliers beat the third-seeded Boilermakers 80-75 in the NCAA Tournament’s South Region final in Louisville, Ky., on Saturday night. Edwards scored 42 points but missed a potential go-ahead 3-pointer with nine seconds left in overtime.
The Boilermakers (26-10) led 70-67 when they fouled Ty Jerome with 5.9 seconds to go in regulation, sending him to the line in a one-and-one situation. He made the first and missed the second, with Virginia’s Mamadi Diakite tipping the ball all the way into the backcourt.
Kihei Clark chased it down and fired a pass back to Diakite, whose buzzer-beating 8-foot jumper from just outside the lane sent the game into overtime.
Virginia (33-3) will play the winner of Sunday’s Midwest Region final between second-seeded Kentucky and No. 5 Auburn.
No. 3 Texas Tech 75, No. 1 Gonzaga 69
The third-seeded Red Raiders made history, using their trademark sticky defense to shut down the Bulldogs’ high-scoring offense and produce a win in the West Region final in Anaheim, Calif.
Jarrett Culver scored 19 points to pace balanced Texas Tech (30-6), which reached the Final Four for the first time in school history. Matt Mooney also hit for 17, including two foul shots with 19.7 seconds left that gave the Red Raiders a four-point lead.
Zach Norvell’s putback with 11.0 seconds remaining pulled Gonzaga (33-4) within two points, but Josh Perkins was called for a flagrant 1 foul when he reached across the end line and fouled Mooney on the ensuing inbounds pass. Davide Moretti, who finished with 12 points, canned two foul shots to up the margin to four. Culver added two more free throws with 9.3 seconds on the clock to ice it.
–Field Level Media
