Beard reflected on the love he has for his players after the Red Raiders' overtime loss in the ncaa championship game.

Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard teared up in his postgame press conference after his Red Raiders lost the national championship game to Virginia, 85–77 in overtime on Monday night in Minneapolis.

Beard congratulated Tony Bennett's team before addressing his own team's performance.

"First, I just want to congratulate Virginia basketball and Coach Bennett and tell them how much respect we have for their program," Beard said. "The game was everything we thought it would be. I thought it would come down to one last possession, and it did in regulation, and then in overtime it just got away from us a little bit. Nothing but respect for their program, their coaches, their players, their fans. I thought it was a great National Championship Game.



"In terms of our players, I've never been more proud of a team that I've coached. I think what these guys have accomplished this year, Big 12 Championship, Final Four, National Championship Game, we'll graduate all five seniors here in a couple months, and these guys will go on to be great pros and fathers and husbands. Just never been more proud of a group."

He continued: "A lot of emotion in our locker room right now, and it's real, just guys that care about the guy next to them. But this is life. We'll bounce back. In terms of Texas Tech basketball, we're not going anywhere. We'll be back in this tournament sooner than later, and we intend to be a part of college basketball as we build the program."

Beard teared up as he talked about the love he has for his players.

"Just–man, just told them I loved them," Beard said. "You know, our relationship is just getting started. I'll be at those guys' weddings one day and hopefully when their kids get born and do everything I can to talk them out of getting into coaching so they don't ever feel like this. You know, I just love those guys."