Guy’s March Humiliation Turns Into Jubilation

By Jerry Ratcliffe

LOUISVILLE — When the clock struck zero and sent all of Virginia into a Final Fourgasm, Kyle Guy, in all the euphoria, flashed back to a darker time last March.

We all remember the scenario. Guy was emotionally crushed, having dropped to his knees in anguish, tears rushing down his reddened face while the Cinderella of all Cinderellas, UMBC, celebrated the NCAA Tournament’s first No. 16 seed upset over a No. 1.

Guy never forgot that moment, that heartbreak. He’ll never forget. For the past year, that haunting photograph has served as a daily reminder as a screensaver on his phone. It served as a daily fire in his belly to get back to the madness of March.

Saturday night in one of the most frenzied 45 minutes of basketball the again top-seeded Cavaliers have played, Guy’s nightmare came to an end as Virginia gutted out an 80-75 overtime slugfest with Purdue in the NCAA South Regional championship.

The victory catapulted 33-3 UVA into next week’s Final Four in Minneapolis, the Cavaliers’ first trip to the final dance since 1984.

Ten years to the day that Tony Bennett was hired to reverse the fortunes of a downtrodden Virginia basketball program, the nice guy of college hoops was rewarded with the greatest anniversary gift. Perhaps now the critics who said UVA couldn’t win in March, that Bennett Ball was ruining the college game, that Bennett couldn’t get a team to the Big Dance, will get off his back.

Bennett, preceded in the Final Four by his father, Dick (who took Wisconsin to the Final Four 19 years ago), is now part of only the second father-son duo to ever accomplish the feat, joining the Thompson’s of Georgetown.

For Guy, though, it was a night of overcoming karma.

During the first half, Guy’s performance continued to be an enigma. A career 43-percent shooter from 3-point range, he had been aborationally bad in NCAA play, a puzzling 12-percenter. It was no different against the Boilermakers the first 20 minutes.

Guy had four points, was 1 for 6 from the field, Oh for 3 from Bonusphere. It was clear that if he didn’t get his act together, Virginia would likely once again be denied of advancing from the Elite Eight.

Making things worse, with 2:09 remaining in the first half, Guy stepped on someone’s foot and crashed to the floor.

“I heard it pop, that’s kind of mostly why I was rolling around like I was. I was really scared,” Guy said afterward. “I thought what was best for me was to get up and let everybody know I was fine.”

Fine might have been an understatement.

Guy required only 28 seconds into the second half to begin his personal war on fate. He drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key, then another from the right corner to lift the Cavaliers to a 35-30 lead, their first of the game.

Then another, and another, followed by another, once crouching as he rushed down the floor, shushing the heavily partisan Purdue crowd.

He finished with a team-high 25 points, knocking down 7 of 13 attempts from the field the second half and overtime, including 5 of 9 from beyond the arc.

When it was over and Virginia had overcome one of the greatest offensive performances in tournament history — a 42-point barrage by Boilermakers guard Carsen Edwards — Guy unashamedly experienced that flashback and dismissed it to the scrap heap of his memory.

“Flashing back to when I was on my knees last year, and you know, just overflowing with joy,” said Guy, sporting a championship hat and shirt emblazoned with “A Cut Above” slogan passed out by the NCAA.

“So happy for my teammates and my coaches and for myself to be able to break through in the way that we did this year,” Guy smiled a toothy grin. “Not only did we silence [Bennett’s] critics, we silenced our own.”

While the rest of Wahoo Nation was wondering what was wrong with Guy, and the Purdue fans were all over him for a lack of production, the former “Mr. Basketball” in Indiana, never sweated. Well, if he did, he didn’t let the rest of us see it.

“I told you guys I don’t really believe in slumps and I always found rhythm when my guys are trying to find me,” Guy said. “Ty (Jerome), Kihei (Clark), Dre (De’Andre Hunter), they were all looking for me even though I struggled in the past few games. All the credit goes to them.”

There were huge moments for each of the Cavaliers in this drama-packed regional final.

Jerome’s big shots, keeping UVA alive. Hunter’s work inside the circle, Jack Salt’s work on the boards and on defense, Kihei Clark’s best-defense-possible on Edwards and offensive floor work, and another incredible NCAA performance by Mamadi Diakite with 14 points, seven rebounds, four blocked shots, and seizing the moment by sending the game into overtime with a pressure-filled, unexpected, 12-foot jumper.

But the night belonged to Guy with his dramatic second-half comeback, the onslaught of points, not to mention a team-high 10 rebounds.

No more tears, no more shame. Only exhilaration.

He’s gonna need a new screensaver.