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March Madness

Kyle Guy's inner strength helps Virginia reach national championship game

MINNEAPOLIS — Kyle Guy wasn’t going near his team’s huddle.

Virginia’s sharp-shooting guard had just drained two free throws in the Cavaliers’ Final Four game against Auburn to tie it at 62 with 0.6 seconds left following a controversial foul call on the Tigers’ Samir Doughty.

With a trip to the national championship game on the line, the 82 percent free-throw shooter instead decided to transport to his driveway back home.

“I didn’t want anything to do with my teammates or coaches at that time,” Guy said. “I just wanted to be in my own space. I knew they had confidence in me. I just needed to build up my own. We all practiced those shots as a kid.”

Guy was right about his teammates’ confidence. Ty Jerome knew the game was over before Guy even made the three free throws.

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“I told everyone to get off the (free-throw) line,” Jerome said. “I said, ‘We won.’ Best free-throw shooter on the line with three attempts. Once I heard that whistle, I was pretty darn confident.”

DeAndre Hunter was more direct: “I went up and told (Guy) to win the game for us.”

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Coach Tony Bennett was at a loss for words afterwards, but did say that while Virginia’s Elite Eight win over Purdue — which featured a game-tying buzzer-beater by Mamadi Diakite — was praised as the highlight reel of the 2019 NCAA tournament, Guy’s heroics shouldn’t be overlooked in the record books.

“For him in that setting to do that, it doesn’t get much better than that. Terrific,” Bennett said before pausing and thinking.

"(Terrific) wasn’t a strong enough word," Bennett added. "(It was) amazing. Spectacular.”

Guy, who also made a clutch 3-pointer with nine seconds left, admitted on the CBS interview after the game that his cool and calm demeanor at the charity stripe masqueraded how “terrified” he really felt.  But the more he processed those feelings after the game, the more he came to terms with the courage he found within.

“Kind of had that feeling in your stomach, like a good nervousness, like, ‘all right, this is my chance,’ ” Guy said. “To be able to go to the national championship off that for these guys and coach Bennett. …I just literally told myself that we dream of these moments, and to be able to make one happen was special.”

More:Kyle Guy was 'terrified' taking game-winning free throws in Virginia's Final Four win

Guy opened up publicly earlier this season about his mental health and the crippling anxiety he experienced in the aftermath of Virginia’s historic loss to No. 16 seed Maryland-Baltimore County last year. Death threats and social media criticism magnified the blame he felt as a result of the heartbreaking setback that’s inspired this year’s Final Four run.  

Instead of letting that anxiety consume him, Guy confronted his pain head-on, turning to his faith and growing closer to fiancée Alexa Jenkins. He also started working with Virginia sports psychologist Dr. Jason Freeman, who helped him get prescribed for an anti-anxiety medication.

Guy said it was ultimately the pain from the UMBC loss that prompted him to dig down deep for strength to overcome his ongoing battle with anxiety. And on Saturday, with the biggest stakes there are in college basketball, Guy stepped to the free-throw line with that built-in badge of courage.  

Guy said he leaned on the words of Nelson Mandela, who once wrote: “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.”

Virginia guard Kyle Guy celebrates the win over Auburn with teammates.

Guy, who has kept a screensaver on his phone of the UMBC logo as a reminder of the pain that’s shaped him, was asked by a reporter Saturday when he expects to remove it. Guy said a national championship might not even prompt him to change it.

“Ask me on Monday,” he said. “That’s not just about the loss. It’s about my whole life. People doubting me. I don’t want to forget bad things. It wasn’t even a bad thing. We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for that (loss to UMBC).”

 

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