Virginia, Texas Tech meet in National Championship
No. 3 seed Texas Tech (31-6) vs. No. 1 seed Virginia (34-3)
NCAA Tournament National Championship, U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis; Monday, 8:20 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: Texas Tech is taking on Virginia in a NCAA National Championship game. Virginia earned a 63-62 win over Auburn in its most recent game, while Texas Tech won 61-51 against Michigan State in its last outing.
SQUAD LEADERSHIP: Jarrett Culver is averaging 18.6 points and 6.3 rebounds to lead the charge for the Red Raiders. Matt Mooney is also a primary contributor, maintaining an average of 11.3 points per game. The Cavaliers have been led by Ty Jerome, who is averaging 13.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 5.4 assists.
FACILITATING THE OFFENSE: Jerome has either made or assisted on 54 percent of all Virginia field goals over the last three games. Jerome has accounted for 20 field goals and 19 assists in those games.
PERFECT WHEN: Virginia is a perfect 32-0 when its defense holds opponents to a field goal percentage of 49.1 percent or less. The Cavaliers are 2-3 when they let opponents to shoot any better than that.
PASSING FOR POINTS: The Cavs have recently created buckets via assists more often than the Red Raiders. Virginia has an assist on 43 of 72 field goals (59.7 percent) over its previous three games while Texas Tech has assists on 31 of 71 field goals (43.7 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: The Texas Tech defense has allowed only 58.8 points per game to opponents, which is the third-lowest figure in the country. The Virginia offense has averaged just 71.1 points through 37 games (ranked 202nd among Division I teams).