Virginia to take a look at its ‘system’ after First Four exit

• Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior WriterMar 20, 2024, 01:05 AM ET

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  • College football press reporter.
  • Joined ESPN.com in 2008.
  • Graduate of Northwestern University.DAYTON, Ohio– For almost

14 minutes of game time and almost an hour of real time, the ball didn’t go through Virginia’s basket even once.The Cavaliers have been vulnerable to slow offending outputs– both this season and in the past– however Tuesday’s lull was particularly painful. Virginia occupied an area in the NCAA competition that many felt should have gone in other places, to a Big East group or perhaps Indiana State. Cavaliers coach Tony Bennett said his group had “maxed out “its regular-season capacity and concerned the First Four with authentic excitement.Instead, Colorado State was the group that verified its placement and revealed it possibly deserved a more powerful seed.

The 10th-seeded Rams smothered fellow 10-seed Virginia’s offense and, possibly more surprisingly, found fractures in the Cavaliers ‘signature defense, cruising to a 67-42 win at UD Arena.Colorado State advanced in the Midwest Area and will next deal with No. 7 seed Texas in a first-round match Thursday

in Charlotte, North Carolina. “We felt like we had a chance to win here this evening, but that’s a Hall of Popularity coach over there, “Rams coach Niko

Medved said of Bennett. “That’s an amazing program, one that I have an unbelievable amount of respect for. So I didn’t see this coming tonight at all.” After Virginia star Reece Beekman sank two free tosses with 9:20 left in the first half, the Cavaliers would not score once again until Beekman’s

jumper with 16:37 to play in the contest. The dry spell consisted of 19 consecutive missed shots and spanned 13:53 of game time and 59 minutes of real time, which included a 20-minute halftime.Colorado State held Virginia to 5 field goals and 14 points in the very first half, the least for an ACC group in the first half of an NCAA tournament game since Wake Forest scored 10 versus Butler in the preliminary in 2001. Virginia reached 40 points with 1:59 left in the game, preventing its own record for fewest points by an ACC team in the Big Dance(39 against Florida in 2017 ). Editor’s Picks 2 Associated”They’re one of the slowest, if not the slowest-playing team, offensively, in the nation,” Medved said. “However if you take a look at us, we’re one of the top 2

in the country in

defensive

pace, meaning we force teams to play late in the shot clock.”Rams guards Nique Clifford and Josiah Strong held Beekman and Isaac McKneely, Virginia’s leading two scoring options, to a combined 6-of-29 shooting. After a 27-point very first half of its

own, Colorado State regularly discovered gaps in Virginia’s trademark defense, as forward Joel Scott (23 points)and Clifford (17)triggered a 40-point second half for the Rams.”We didn’t let them take us out of our strategy,”Clifford said.”We adhered to what we do and just were confident in it.” Bennett stated Virginia’s defense”unwinded.” “They did an excellent task pushing the ball,

remaining in the passing lanes and in the space,” Cavs secure Beekman said.”I think we ran some great offense today, also. The shots weren’t falling.”Clifford said Colorado State”

took it a little individual”being a 10-seed designated to the First Four after going 4-1 against Quadrant 1 and Quadrant 2 opponents in nonconference play and 9-9 versus Quadrants 1 and

2 in the Mountain West.The Rams won their first NCAA tournament game since 2013.”Hard to picture tonight going any better for us,”Medved said.Tuesday’s outing could not have actually gone much worse for Virginia, although the group’s offending battles weren’t a complete surprise. The Cavaliers came in last in the ACC and 344th nationally in scoring offense(63.6 PPG). They two times scored 41 points in losses and scored fewer than 50 points 7 times, their most in a season because 1947-48 (8). Virginia lost its first NCAA competition game for the 4th time in its previous five looks. It won a nationwide title in the other( 2019).”We’ve raised the bar truly high here. We have actually gotten approved for this tournament, which is not an easy thing. We have actually done well,”Bennett stated.”But it’s stung to get to this point and not advance. Of course, we have to keep including quality players. We have actually got to take a look at things, certainly, from a system standpoint. “