The Virginia Cavaliers are playing in Monday’s national title game thanks to a missed double-dribble and controversial foul on Kyle Guy’s go-ahead 3.
With that Virginia win in Saturday’s Final Four, one of the nation’s most likable, exciting teams will be watching from home. Instead, college basketball fans will be treated to a defensive-oriented title game with Virginia’s ultra-slow-paced offense.
If that wasn’t bad enough — Auburn was robbed from perhaps the NCAA tournament’s most sincere, heartfelt moment ending in a win.
For this, we’ll have to go back to the final 17.6 seconds of Saturday’s national semifinal. Auburn was up by two points and shooting a one-and-one in hopes of extending the lead to two possessions. At the line was Anfernee McLemore — a 61 percent free-throw shooter facing the biggest shots of his life.
McLemore stepped the line, exhaled and repeated “for Chuma” between breaths.
Focused by his tribute to the injured Auburn star Chuma Okeke, McLemore calmly hit both shots.
Simply, wow.
Had Virginia not been aided by the late officiating decisions, we would have been looking back at that moment for years. It was exactly why Auburn was so easy to root for.
Unfortunately for Auburn, it didn’t work out that way. But we can still appreciate how McLemore’s bond with his teammate inspired him in a high-pressure situation.
Moments like that make the NCAA tournament great.
