Virginia Basketball: Takeaways from thrilling Final Four win over Auburn

Send it in, Jerome.

At seemingly every turn in this game, Virginia basketball was led by junior guard Ty Jerome. One of the best players in the entire country, Jerome has often been overshadowed by his teammates throughout this season but that was not the case on the nation’s biggest stage. While playing in the biggest game of his life, Jerome delivered time and time again for the Cavaliers as he helped carry the team to victory. And while it was Kyle Guy who made the clutch plays in the final seconds, that position would not have been possible without Jerome’s incredible performance.

The leading scorer in the entire contest, Jerome finished the game with 21 points on 8-for-16 shooting from the field. And, in case that wasn’t impressive enough, he flashed his all-around game by also recording nine rebounds and dishing out six assists (to two turnovers). To put it simply, the Cavaliers ran their offense through Jerome almost all night long and that proved to be an excellent decision. And while I understand that +/- is a flawed statistic in many ways, it told the truth in this matchup as Jerome was +6 in his 34 minutes on the court.

Jerome’s importance on the court was on complete display in the closing minutes as well. When he picked up his fourth foul late in the game with Virginia leading by nine points, head coach Tony Bennett took him out of the game. In the 90 seconds that ensued, their lead was cut to just one and Jerome was forced back onto the court. He might not have been the one making the biggest plays in the final seconds, but Jerome was arguably the top reason that Virginia was in a position to win.