One and Done: Virginia Smothered by Colorado State in NCAA Tournament Play-In
UVA's March Madness win drought continues.
It's another short stay at the NCAA Tournament for the Virginia Cavaliers (23-11), who turned in another ice-cold offensive performance and were smothered 67-42 by the Colorado State Rams (25-10) in the First Four of the 2024 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament on Tuesday night at UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio.
For a couple of minutes in the first half, Virginia's offense appeared to come out of its shell and get into a rhythm as Isaac McKneely hit a pair of threes on either side of a Reece Beekman layup. But that stretch proved to be the exception rather than the rule. Nothing came easy for Virginia, as the Rams were able to concentrate their defense on Beekman without having to worry about giving up open shots, as even when the Cavaliers did get an open look, they rarely knocked it down.
UVA has had some bad offensive games this season, but there's a convincing argument to be made that this was the worst one. The Cavaliers didn't score a single point for the final nine minutes and 20 seconds of the first half and went the last ten minutes and 30 seconds of the first half without making a shot. Virginia trailed 27-14 at halftime, with those 14 points representing the fewest points UVA has scored in a first half this season, even beating the 18 points the Cavaliers were held to in the first half against Wisconsin and the 16 points they scored by halftime at Virginia Tech.
Virginia shot a season-low 25.0% from the field in the game, making just 14 of its 56 shot attempts. UVA's 42 total points were its second-fewest on the season, as the Cavaliers scored 41 twice, again against Wisconsin and Virginia Tech.
Colorado State star point guard Isaiah Stevens, who came in averaging 16.5 points and 7.0 assists per game and who ranks in the top five in career points scored among active Division I men's basketball players, was held completely in check by Beekman. Stevens had just five points on 2/5 shooting as the two-time ACC Defensive Player of the Year put the clamps on him.
But it didn't matter.
Colorado State got 23 points from Joel Scott and 17 from Nique Clifford, who both had double-doubles and nearly outscored the Cavaliers by themselves. The Rams shot 55.3% from the floor, not that it was necessary to shoot all that well to get past the Cavaliers on Tuesday night.
10 of Virginia's 11 losses this season came by double digits and this was the sixth time that the Cavaliers have lost by at least 20 points. The 25-point margin of defeat tied UVA's second-largest loss of the season.
Of course, in the NCAA Tournament, it hardly matters what the final spread was. It only matters who wins and who loses, who survives and advances and who goes home for good. In this instance, Colorado State earned the right to advance to the first round and take on No. 7 seed Texas on Thursday in Charlotte, while Virginia's 2023-2024 season has officially come to an end.
And so ends the decorated collegiate career of Reece Beekman, who will in all likelihood depart for the NBA Draft, concluding his time as a Cavalier without ever winning an NCAA Tournament game. Virginia as a program has still not won in March Madness since the run to the 2019 National Championship.
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