The 2019 Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament is over as Tony Bennett, Kyle Guy, Ty Jerome and the Virginia Cavaliers avenge last year’s humbling defeat to stand alone on top of the College Basketball world. Anyone that isn’t a Texas Tech fan has to feel good for this team. After all the hate that Charlotteville had to endure following the UMBC debacle, they deserved a couple of lucky breaks and bounces. This tournament was packed with incredible games and after a chalk-filled first round, it was a tournament to remember with high quality action. With that said, let’s check out my list of the Top 10 games of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
There are six teams on this list that make multiple appearances as part of the top games/honorable mentions of this year’s tournament: Purdue (2), Tennessee (2), Maryland (2), Duke (3), Auburn (3), and Virginia (4). There were also five overtime games that made the cut.
Honorable Mentions
Ignore the score. Anyone who watched this game knows this matchup was A LOT closer than the final score indicated. The reason I picked this contest was for multiple reasons. First off, UVA was down as many as FIFTEEN to Gardner Webb. Yes, you read that right. Even after getting humiliated by #16 UMBC in a 20pt blowout last year, it seemed as if Virginia hadn’t learned their lesson. However, Tony Bennett reminded his team to calm down and focus. The second half was complete domination in route to a redemption win. Virginia had several games in the tournament where they could’ve folded (Oregon, Purdue, Auburn) but I felt like this game prepared them to stay poised in the most pressure-packed situations throughout their championship run.
I’ll be honest...I was pretty salty about this game. I was sold on this game being in favor of the Bruins. My bracket cries in agony. This game was the definition of a seesaw. Belmont was up 8 in the first half before Maryland went on a 16-0 run to go up 8 themselves. With the Bruins down 1 with under ten seconds to play, an errant pass to senior Dylan Windler for the potential game-winning layup was disrupted by Maryland’s Darryl Morsell who got the stop necessary to seal the game and head to the Round of 32.
Deja vu? A week after the Blue Devils escaped UCF at the buzzer, an almost identical situation had Coach K and Co sweating out the final seconds. VT’s Ahmed Hill had a tap in off the inbounds pass to potentially send the game to overtime. Unfortunately for the Hokies, Hill couldn’t get a solid grasp and the ball and butchered the opportunity as Duke held on to advance.
Caleb Homesley may have had one of the best individual performances in the tournament not named Ja Morant. He hit five three’s en route to a 30 point domination. The Flames managed to rally late in the second half, down 10, to take home their first NCAA Tournament win in school history over Quinndary Weatherspoon and the Bulldogs.
The biggest upset of the tournament in terms of seeding. Kansas State’s star player, Dean Wade, was out of the tournament due to a right foot injury. That left the door open for UCI’s Max Hazzard and Evan Leonard to take over the game. The guard duo combined for 19 points as Hazzard went 5 for 11 from downtown to ignite the program’s first NCAA tournament win in school history.
The Top 10
Tremont Waters will go down in LSU basketball history for his heroic shot to win it. LSU had seemingly taken control of this game but something that you will see throughout this list is that no lead is ever safe in the NCAA Tournament. It was a tale of two halves as LSU dominated the first half with Maryland leading the charge in the second. Bruno Fernando threw down a huge putback dunk over Naz Reid to ignite the Terps charge. For a brief point in the second half, Maryland even grabbed the lead. With the score tied, Waters drove past three defenders and narrowly scooped in the game winner with under two seconds left to send the Tigers to the Sweet Sixteen.
TAKE THE LAYUP! The Tigers were trying their best to blow this game. New Mexico State had every opportunity to steal this game. Down 7 with fifty seconds left pretty much means game over, right? Not exactly. Two consecutive Auburn turnovers on inbounds passes and a DEEP New Mexico State three pointer by Trevelin Queen shifted the tide of the game quickly. Suddenly, it was a one point contest with 30 seconds left. Auburn was up two after free throws were converted, leaving it in the hands of the Aggies. NMSU’s AJ Harris drove to the basket and appeared to have a game tying layup. Instead, he inexplicably kicked it out to his teammate Terrell Brown who would get fouled on the ensuing three point attempt. Brown would go on to miss two of three from the line as Auburn escaped after another missed three at the buzzer. Everyone will always wonder...why didn’t you take the layup?
Kentucky was 2-0 this season against Auburn. One included a 27 blowout in favor of the Wildcats. Why would this be different? Especially without star Chuma Okeke out with a torn ACL suffered in their Sweet Sixteen matchup against UNC. It was apparent that Auburn was playing as good of basketball as anyone in the county. Bryce Brown was the key cog for the Tigers in this one. 66% from the field including draining four three pointers. PJ Washington (28pts, 13 REB) once again showed why the Wildcats are a different team with him on the court. No team could really pull away until Auburn flexed its muscle in OT to advance to their first Final Four in program history.
The Hawkeyes were once down 25. Then they weren't. This game reminded me of a slow train wreck. You can see it coming a mile away and the result is not going to be pretty. Even though the Falcons blew a 25 point lead to lose in overtime in the Super Bowl, the Vols didn’t want to be next. It seemed like Tennessee was just trying to survive to get to overtime when the lead slipped away. Iowa had a nice, balanced attack with five players in double figures to scatter the opposition down the stretch. In overtime, it was ALL Vols as they doubled up the Hawkeyes in the final five minutes to take the dub.
So close, yet so far. Not a game that many people thought too hard about when the bracket matchups first came out. UCF did have the monster 7’6 center Tacko Fall going for them but not too much else. The last two minutes of the game is one to remember. UCF continued to hang around and had taken a four point lead with under two minutes left. With 1:55 to play, UCF’s Aubrey Dawkins was open on a fast break and in prime position to take a six point lead and a potential dagger. However, the pass for the alley-oop slam went flying out of bounds and on the ensuing position, Duke's Cam Reddish hit a huge three to cut it to one. This five point swing was a main reason why Duke was able to come out victorious. The Blue Devils led by one after a RJ Barrett putback off a missed free throw. Dawkins had a chance to win it at the end. An excruciating layup rolled around the rim before falling out as time expired.
Left for dead down 18, the Volunteers took the role of the Hawkeyes like in their previous contest. Admiral Schofield and Ryan Cline went AT IT! Cline went 10-13 from the field including an amazing 7 for 10 from three-point range. Meanwhile, the Vols’ Schofield led the charge in the big comeback. They rallied to send the game into overtime before the Boilermakers took over and advanced to their first Elite 8 since 2000.
The common consensus was if there was a team to take down Duke in the East region, it would’ve been the Spartans from East Lansing. MSU’s Cassius Winston continued his tear in the tournament, tacking on twenty points. However, it was the senior walk-on, Kenny Goins, who struggled all game, but decided to come up CLUTCH with a huge three with 34.3 seconds left in regulation. RJ Barrett had a chance to tie it at the line in the waning moments and missed his first of two free throws. On the ensuing sideline inbounds pass, Winston made a beeline for the other basket, grabbed the ball off the pass and ran out the remaining 4.7 seconds to send Michigan State to their first Final Four appearance since 2015.
Number 3: #1 Virginia def Auburn 63-62
Auburn and Virginia certainly liked living life on the edge throughout the tournament. It seemed if each one of their games had heart stopping moments. Auburn looked like they were destined for the National Championship game until a huge foul call in the final moments had the entire country at the edge of their seats. Some would say that the Tigers shouldn’t have even been in that situation after the refs missed a kicked-ball violation on Jerome leading up to this sequence. One of the most iconic pictures to me was Bryce Brown holding up two hands around his neck signaling “choke.” Then, Kyle Guy, with ice in his veins, knocked down all three free throws to give Virginia a lead they would not relinquish. Fantastic finish no doubt.
This National Championship game was supposed to be a defensive slugfest but what a game it turned out to be! Both teams were definitely evenly matched throughout. Each squad had stars that had the potential to shoot the lights out with Ty Jerome and Kyle Guy for the Cavs with Matt Mooney and Jarrett Culver leading the charge for the Red Raiders. UVA was up 10 midway through the second half until Texas Tech trimmed the lead and even had a chance to win it in regulation at the buzzer. The DeAndre Hunter vs Jarrett Culver matchup was one to see. Hunter’s big game (27 points) and solid defense on Culver is the main reason why the Cavaliers are saying “no more next year” and finally have their first natty ever.
From the moment the overtime buzzer sounded, this one became an instant classic that will be remembered for a long time. When did Carsen Edwards turn into Stephen Curry? I physically had my jaw DROPPED after his 42 point outburst. However, what may overshadow Edwards’ amazing game is Virginia’s stellar comeback in the final moments. Purdue was up three with 5.9 seconds left and Ty Jerome at the line. After the first shot was true, the second one ricochet off the front iron and rolled to midcourt. Then 5’9 guard Kihei Clark chased the ball down and made one of the clutchest passes in NCAA tournament history, flinging it down court to Mamadi Diakite for the buzzer-beater to send it into overtime. Most people in Clark’s shoes would’ve chucked up a prayer at midcourt but his basketball IQ is a main reason why UVA will have a piece in history as National Champions in 2019.
...and yes, prior to this sentence, I went an entire article without mentioning Zion Williamson. This one’s for you, ESPN.
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