Virginia vs. Texas Tech 2019: Game Time, Stats to Know for National Title Game

A first-time NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament champion will be crowned Monday night at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

No. 1 Virginia and No. 3 Texas Tech are both playing in their first national championship games, and the Red Raiders are doing so following their first Final Four appearance.

Virginia survived its semifinal contest with Auburn by the slimmest of margins on a controversial foul call that allowed Kyle Guy to win the game at the free-throw line.

In their Final Four victory over Michigan State, the Red Raiders once again locked down on defense and held Tom Izzo's Spartans to 51 points.

Based off how both teams have played for the majority of the season, expect defense to rule Monday's title game.

2019 National Championship Information

Date: Monday, April 8

Start Time: 9:20 p.m. ET 

TV: CBS 

Stats To Know

Scoring Defense

Points will be at a premium for each of the 40 minutes played Monday night. 

Virginia comes into the national championship with the top scoring defense in the NCAA, as it has conceded 55.4 points.

Texas Tech isn't far behind the Cavaliers in third place, with 59 points conceded per contest.

The Red Raiders carry the edge in scoring defense over the past five games, as they have allowed 55.8 points per game in the NCAA tournament compared to Virginia's 58.6.

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

Only one of the 10 opponents Virginia and Texas Tech have faced scored more than 70 points, and Purdue needed overtime to do so against the Cavaliers in the Elite Eight.

Chris Beard's Red Raiders come into Monday off the better defensive performance in the Final Four. They held Michigan State to 31.9 percent from the field and 29.2 percent from three-point range.

Tony Bennett's Cavaliers turned in a solid showing of their own by limiting Auburn to a 38.2 field-goal percentage and 29 percent from beyond the arc.

Given how much pride both teams take in their defensive abilities, it would be stunning if either of the title game participants scores more than 60 points.

Free-Throw Percentage

Although Virginia defeated Auburn at the free-throw line through Kyle Guy, it struggled from the charity stripe for most of the game.

The Cavaliers went 6-for-12 from the line against the Tigers, while Texas Tech made eight of its 13 foul shots.

As a team, Virginia shoots 74.6 percent from the free-throw line, and Texas Tech is a bit worse at 72.8 percent.

With points expected to be hard to come by Monday, both programs need to take advantage of their trips to the line.

The free-throw percentages of the individuals on both teams will come into focus as the winning team looks to finish off the game.

If Virginia is ahead, it prefers to have Guy and Kihei Clark, both of whom are 82.5 percent shooters at the line, take free throws.

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

If the Red Raiders are leading, they will want the ball in the hands of Davide Moretti, who is a 92.2 percent shooter from the charity stripe.

Although there are some solid free-throw shooters on each roster, the big men lack production in that department.

Virginia's Mamadi Diakite, Jack Salt and Jay Huff all shoot beneath 70 percent at the line, while Norense Odiase has the worst free-throw success rate of Texas Tech's key players at 61.9 percent.

If the losing side wants to find a way back into the contest in the final minutes, the big men will be the targets of more fouls.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90. Statistics obtained from ESPN.com and NCAA.com.