No. 1 Seed Virginia Meets No. 3 Seed Texas Tech in National Championship

MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. – No. 1 seed Virginia (34-3) meets No. 3 seed Texas Tech (31-6) in the NCAA National Championship game tonight (April 8). Tipoff for the title game at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn., is set for 9:20 p.m. ET.
 
For Openers
• Virginia (34-3) is making its first NCAA national championship game appearance and seeks its first title.
• The Cavaliers meet the Red Raiders for the first time.
• UVA has amassed a school-record 34 wins and has won 30 or more games for the fourth time under three-time National Coach of the Year Tony Bennett and fifth time in school history.
 
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-Auburn contest will be televised on CBS and streamed online via NCAA March Madness Live
• The game will be broadcast on the Virginia Sports Radio Network and Westwood One/NCAA Radio Network on Sirius (84) and XM (84).
 
The Head Coach
• Three-time National and four-time ACC Coach of the Year Tony Bennett has a 253-89 (.740) mark in 10 seasons at Virginia and 322-122 (.725) career mark in 13 seasons.
• Bennett became the 80th active Division I head coach to win his 300th career game against Marshall on Dec. 31, 2018.
• In 2017-18, Bennett led Virginia to its eighth ACC regular-season title, third ACC Tournament championship, school-record 31 wins, ACC-record 17 league wins and ACC-record 9-0 mark on the road.
• Bennett was named the USBWA Henry Iba National Coach of the Year for the third time to rank second all-time behind legendary John Wooden, who captured the award six times.
 
UVA All-Time in the NCAA Tournament
• UVA is 34-22 all-time in 23 NCAA Tournament appearances.
• UVA is 2-2 all-time in the NCAA Final Four.
• UVA is 17-6 as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
• UVA meets a No. 3 seed for the first time in the NCAA Tournament.
• Virginia head coach Tony Bennett is 15-8 in nine NCAA tournaments, including a 12-6 record at UVA.
• The Cavaliers have reached the NCAA Tournament a school-best six consecutive seasons.
 
 All-Time vs. the Big 12
• Virginia meets its second Big 12 opponent of the 2019 NCAA Tournament after defeating Oklahoma 62-51 in the second round on March 23.
• UVA is 15-18 all-time against current Big 12 Conference members (9-10 vs. West Virginia, 3-1 vs. Oklahoma, 2-2 vs. Iowa State, 1-2 vs. Kansas, 0-1 vs. Baylor, 0-1 vs. Oklahoma State and 0-1 vs. TCU.
• The Cavaliers are 4-0 all-time against current Big 12 foes in the NCAA Tournament (1-0 vs. Iowa State, 1-0 vs. Kansas, 1-0 vs. Oklahoma).
 
Common Opponents
• Virginia and Texas Tech share two common opponents from the 2018-19 season – Duke and Oklahoma.
• UVA posted a 1-2 mark against the common opponents, defeating Oklahoma (63-51) and dropping a pair of games to Duke (72-70 and 81-71).
• Texas Tech was 2-1 with a pair of wins against Oklahoma (66-59 and 66-54) and a loss to Duke (69-58).
 
UVA in the National Statistical Rankings
• As of April 7, UVA ranks first nationally in scoring defense (55.5 ppg), turnovers per game (8.9) and winning percentage (91.9%), third in scoring margin (15.5), fourth in 3-point field goal percentage defense (28.7%), fifth in field goal percentage defense (38.4%) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.60), sixth in personal fouls per game (14.2) and eighth in 3-point field goal percentage (38.3%).
 
Last Time Out
• Kyle Guy’s three free throws with 0.6 seconds left lifted No. 1 seed Virginia to a 63-62 win over No. 5 seed Auburn in an NCAA Final Four national semifinal on Saturday, April 6.
• Guy finished with 15 points and Ty Jerome tallied 21 points and matched a career high with nine rebounds in the win.
• De’Andre Hunter added 14 points and five rebounds and Mamadi Diakite had a career-high five blocked shots.
• UVA’s nine blocked shots established a season high and new record in 56 games in the NCAA Tournament.
• Virginia trailed 31-28 at the half, but went on an 8-0 run and held Auburn scoreless for the first 5:42 of the second half.
• The Cavaliers gained a 57-47 lead, but Auburn answered with a 14-0 run before Guy drilled a 3-pointer along with his game-winning free throws.
• Samir Doughty led Auburn with 13 points.