Another incredible finish for Virginia. Cavs top Auburn on late foul call to advance

A year after suffering the biggest upset in NCAA Tournament history, Virginia will play for the national championship Monday after posting a remarkable 63-62 victory against Auburn on Saturday.

The Cavaliers benefited from two huge calls in the final seconds, one that wasn’t made and one that was.

A foul on Auburn’s Samir Doughty for making contact while Virginia’s Kyle Guy was attempting a last-ditch three-pointer was whistled by official James Breeding.

The crowd at U.S. Bank Stadium seemed momentarily uncertain about the call, as did CBS play-by-play man Jim Nantz.

“Hold on, did I hear a whistle?” Nantz said after the shot.

Doughty made contact with his body, but he didn’t think enough for a call.

“It seemed like the ref wasn’t about to call a foul,” Doughty said. “I definitely felt like we deserved a better result but it’s not always going to be like that.”

Teammates shared the perspective.

“I just didn’t think it was a foul, but the refs thought otherwise,” Auburn guard Bryce Brown said. “Can’t go back and rewind it.”

Auburn coach Bruce Pearl used part of his postgame talk with his players to counsel them in handling the heartbreaking defeat.

“We focused on how we were going to handle the defeat at Auburn, with class and dignity,” Pearl said. “There are lots of calls during the game, and you’re going to get some and you’re not going to get some.

“My advice, as an administrator of the game, is if that’s a foul, call it. Call it at the beginning of the game, call it in the middle, call it at the end of the game.”

Guy went to the free-throw line with 0.6 seconds remaining and the 82-percent shooter buried three free throws, turning a two-point deficit into the final score.

That possession remained alive because officials didn’t call a double dribble on Virginia’s Ty Jerome, who was being guarded by Brown as he approached mid-court.

Jerome attempted a change-of-direction dribble behind his back. The ball bounced off his back foot. He stopped, picked up the ball and started dribbling again. That’s a double dribble.

“I knew there was a disruption there, you just have to get on to the next play,” Pearl said.

Pearl’s son Steven, an Auburn assistant coach, also didn’t linger on the missed call.

“That’s a bang-bang play,” Steven Pearl said. “How is the ref supposed to see that he kicked it as opposed to our guy touching it? So that’s a tough one.”

Brown fouled Jerome and with 1.5 seconds remaining, Virginia’s game-winning sequence, concluding with Guy’s free throws, had started.

“These are moments that every basketball player has dreamed of, hitting a game-winning shot or free throws,” Guy said. “Kind of had that feeling in your stomach, like a good nervousness, like, ‘All right, this is my chance.’”

As the final horn sounded, the Cavaliers celebrated their triumph while Auburn players crumbled to the floor.

A year earlier, Virginia was walking off the floor in dejection after becoming the first top seed in NCAA Tournament history to lose to a No. 16 seed. UMBC pulled off the shocker.

Now, Virginia is marching into the NCAA title game having stared down defeat in successive games.

In last week’s South Region title victory against Purdue, Virginia missed a late free throw, tapped the ball into the backcourt, and needed a near court-length pass to set up the buzzer beating game-tying shot.

Add this semifinal drama to the list of improbable outcomes.

Virginia somehow coughed up a 10-point lead with 5:22 remaining. Brown knocked down three three-pointers to key a 14-0 run that appeared to put Auburn in the driver’s seat.

The Tigers led 61-57 with 17 seconds remaining when Guy hit a corner three. Auburn’s Jared Harper then made one of two free throws to restore a two-point lead.

Auburn had fouls to give and twice stopped the clock. That’s when the final dramatics and controversy started, and the Tigers’ season ended.

What a run it had been for Auburn, a No. 5 seed that started the tournament with a one-point survival of New Mexico State.

After that scare, the Tigers went on a streak unparalleled in college basketball. They became the first team to defeat Kansas, North Carolina and Kentucky, the three winningest programs, in successive games.

But the magical season has come to a painful end.

“Let’s not remember this game for how it ended,” Bruce Pearl said.

Not much chance of that happening.

This story was originally published April 6, 2019 at 8:38 PM with the headline "Another incredible finish for Virginia. Cavs top Auburn on late foul call to advance."