Opinion: Virginia beats Texas Tech, proves beauty is in the eye of the title holder

MINNEAPOLIS — There was beauty in this ugliness, joy after so much pain.

Virginia didn’t just win its first national title Monday night, it shed its label as a postseason underachiever and exorcised demons that have shadowed the Cavaliers for the last year. Those early March exists? That humiliating loss to Maryland-Baltimore County? They may not be forgotten, but they have lost their venomous sting. 

Virginia won the rock fight with Texas Tech, 85-77, allowing the Red Raiders little more than bruises and grimaces inside the 3-point line. The Cavaliers smothered future lottery pick Jarrett Culver, not allowing him a field goal until almost five minutes into the second half, forcing the Red Raiders’ bench to rely on monster games from their bench and less luminary players.

When the game went to overtime, as of course it would for this team for which nothing has come easy, the Cavaliers kept a lid on the basket as if they had ownership of it. The Red Raiders made just four of their 11 shots in the extra period, while Virginia showed just how strong the last 12 months has made it, going 12-for-12 from the line.

"We practice this," said Virginia guard Kyle Guy of the foul shooting. "To see it come to fruition, I’m speechless."

Virginia guard Kyle Guy forever shed the embarrassment of losing to a 16 seed. (Photo: Bob Donnan, USA TODAY Sports)

All that was to be expected, however. Virginia’s defensive bona fides run deep and were established long ago, passed on by coach Tony Bennett’s father, Dick, who never met an 80-point game he didn’t love.

What was a surprise, what made this nightmare of a last year all worth it, was the unbridled delight and freedom with which Virginia played. A lesser team would have imploded long ago, humiliated at being the first No. 1 seed – and the overall No. 1 seed, at that – to lose to a 16, an upset that ranked with the Loch Ness Monster, White Walkers and Bigfoot for how mythical it once seemed.

But Virginia handled that loss with grace and maturity, and this whole NCAA tournament has seemed like a karmic payback from the basketball gods. The come-from-behind victory over Gardner-Webb. The back-from-the-dead overtime win over Purdue to reach the Final Four. A loss against Auburn that wasn’t.

And then, when Monday night’s title was seemingly in hand, a Texas Tech rally from 10 points down to force overtime.

What stood out, besides Virginia’s quiet strength, was the smile on the players’ faces. Guy, who wrote letters to try and make sense of his anger and hurt after last year, who is open about struggling with his anxiety, flashing smiles so bright they could be seen all the way back in Indiana after making one big shot after another.

De’Andre Hunter, swallowing up not one, but two teammates in a bear hug when the final buzzer sounded. And as the confetti blanketed the floor, Bennett walked to shake hands with Texas Tech coach Chris Beard, a quiet, but satisfied smile on his face.

"You’re never alone in the hills and the valleys," Bennett said. "We faced that in the last year."

Even in the worst of times, strength and grace will win out. And when it does, it will be beautiful.

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