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APRIL 2019 17 "I never thought of myself being a na- tional championship coach," Bennett said. "I wasn't even going to really get into coaching. I wasn't crazy about it. "I loved playing and then I saw my dad's team go to the Final Four. I was a volunteer manager, and I got into it. I love the young men. I love the game. But it's not my end-all be-all. "I think there was a bigger plan go- ing on here, and I was used in it. I hope that it's a message for some people out there that there can be hope and joy and resiliency. "I'm thankful for what happened. That's why I did what I did at the end. "When that horn went off, I just put my head down and said, 'Thank you. I'm humbled, Lord, because I don't deserve to be in this spot, but You chose me to be here and I'll give thanks.' "I told our guys in the locker room, 'Put your arms around each other. Take a look at every guy in here, look at each other. Promise me you will remain humble and thankful for this. "Don't let this change you. It doesn't have to. Stay humble and stay thankful.'" And in putting together the greatest season in school history, the team cer- tainly gave Wahoos fans everywhere plenty to be thankful for as well. "It's a great story," Bennett said. "That's probably the best way I can end this. "It's a great story." Redshirt second-year guard De'Andre Hunter's clutch three-pointer with 12 seconds left in regu- lation tied Texas Tech 68-68 and sent the title game into overtime. He drilled another three in overtime that put UVA up for good, 75-73, to cap his career day of 27 points and nine rebounds. PHOTO BY MATT RILEY/COURTESY UVA UVA'S TITLE BY THE NUMBERS 1st National championship in men's basketball for Virginia, and the 26th in school history for all sports. It also marked the 15th national champion- ship in men's basketball for the ACC, which ties the Pac-12 for the most all time. 2 Teams have won the national title without having to play a No. 1 or No. 2 seed along the way — UNLV in 1990 and Virginia in 2019. The Wahoos defeated No. 16 Gardner-Webb, No. 9 Oklahoma, No. 12 Oregon, No. 3 Purdue, No. 5 Auburn and No. 3 Texas Tech. UVA also became just the fourth program to win the national title after losing in the first round the year before, joining Indiana (1987), UCLA (1995) and Duke (2015). 3 Times in their final three games Virginia trailed with less than 15 seconds to go in regulation. The Cavaliers were down 70-68 versus Purdue in the Elite Eight before redshirt third-year forward Mamadi Diakite hit a buzzer-beating two to send the game to overtime, where they won 80-75. The Hoos trailed Auburn 61-57 in the national semifinals before third-year guard Kyle Guy hit a three-pointer with nine seconds left and then three free throws with just 0.6 seconds on the clock to win the game 63-62. In the national championship game, redshirt second-year guard De'Andre Hunter's three-pointer with 12 seconds to go knotted the game at 68-68 before UVA prevailed 85-77 in overtime. 6 National champions won multiple overtime games en route to claiming the crown — North Carolina in 1957, Texas Western in 1966, UCLA in 1975, Louis- ville in 1980, Arizona in 1997 and Virginia in 2019. 7.5 Points per game was the average margin of victory for Virginia during its six-game NCAA Tournament run —the third smallest for a national champion since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985 (it then went to 68 in 2011). In that category, the Cavaliers trail only Villanova in 1985 (a No. 8 seed, 5.0) and Arizona in 1997 (a No. 4 seed, 5.3). 13 Years as a head coach for Bennett before he won his first national champi- onship. It took Rick Pitino of Providence, Kentucky and Louisville 14 years to win his first title, plus Bill Self of Oral Roberts, Tulsa, Illinois and Kansas 15 years, Mike Krzyzewski of Army and Duke 16 years, Roy Williams of Kansas and North Caro- lina 17 years, John Calipari of Massachusetts, Memphis and Kentucky 20 years, Dean Smith of North Carolina 21 years, Jay Wright of Villanova 22 years, and Jim Calhoun of Northeastern and Connecticut 27 years. 21 Combined three-pointers made by Virginia (11) and Texas Tech (10), which tied the record for a national champion- ship game. Illinois (12) and North Carolina (nine) also had 21 threes in 2005. However, this year's title game was the first to have both teams make at least 10 treys. 56.1 Points allowed per game by Virginia en route to the national championship, which ranked first in the land. The last time the NCAA champion led the country in that category was 1959, when California (51.0 points allowed per contest) did it under the guidance of Hall of Fame head coach Pete Newell. 62 Consecutive wins for the Cavaliers when leading at half- time, dating back to February 2017. 125-8 Record (a .940 winning percentage) for UVA under Bennett when scoring 70 or more points. 162 Combined points by Virginia and Texas Tech were the most scored in a national championship game since 2000, when Michigan State beat Florida 89-76. 2008 Was the last time the national championship game went to overtime, before this season's Virginia-Texas Tech clash. Eleven years ago, Kansas rallied past Memphis to win 75-68 after Mario Chalmers hit a game-tying three-pointer with 2.1 seconds to go. The Cavaliers got a three from Hunter with 12 seconds remaining to tie the Red Raiders 68-68 before making a defensive stand, and then outscored them 17-9 in extra time to take home the title. In the 81-year history of the NCAA Tournament, only eight national title contests have gone to overtime (9.9 percent).