The defending national champion is out after a match.
Virginia, winner of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, suffered another shocking first-round loss on Saturday, falling to Ohio, 62-58, in 13 leagues, in Bloomington, Indiana.
The Cavaliers had a seven-point lead in the first half of the second half, but then went over 10 minutes without a field goal, a stretch that allowed Ohio to take its own seven-point lead. Virginia narrowed the lead to two with eight seconds left for a 3-point Trey Murphy, but Ohio left the game with two free throws from Lunden McDay.
“Man, this game, the atmosphere, even with limited fans, is a dream come true to be here playing the game I love,” Ohio striker Ben Vander Plas said. “I had a couple of family members in the stands, playing with a team I love, playing with a coaching staff I love to play with. Man, it was a special moment out there. We’ll just keep going.”
Virginia, the fourth seed in the western region, did not arrive in Indianapolis until Friday afternoon, after a positive COVID-19 test and forced contact tracking most of its list to put. be quarantined until Thursday. The Cavaliers practiced as a team in Charlottesville on Friday morning, underwent COVID-19 testing on arrival in Indianapolis and again at 1:15 a.m. Saturday morning, and then went having a dispute on Saturday afternoon.
Virginia coach Tony Bennett would not blame the loss of rust or lack of training time.
“We went in, we already knew, we thought we had a chance. Certainly, yes,” Bennett said. “I don’t know if it would have mattered if it was a normal preparation or not. How can you say? We played a good team, and that’s the tournament.”
“We prepared to the best of our ability. Once again, Ohio played a better game when they needed to play, they made the plays and we left some on the table. So, again, I’m grateful to have the opportunity. You can’t go back and change anything. I thought our boys were as prepared as circumstances could be. “
This is the second time in the last three NCAA tournaments that Virginia has lost with a double-digit series lead in the first round. In 2018, the Cavaliers were the first 1 seed to drop to 16 seed when they lost to UMBC. They now also become the third team since 1979 to lose the first round in semifinals in double-digit seeds around a national championship in three consecutive tournaments, joining 1986-88 Indiana and 1994-96 UCLA .
“I faced so much joy in this tournament on so many occasions,” Bennett said. “I’ve also faced heartache. Again, as I say, you always have to be willing to accept them both, you know that when your career ends that doesn’t define you, whether you win it all or not. you lose it or whatever. It’s what you do, you do it with love, joy and passion, then you don’t let it define you beyond what you should do. “
Ohio finished fifth in the U.S. conference during the regular season, but the Bobcats won three games in three days to win the conference tournament and win the league’s automatic bid. They had some COVID-19 numbers during the last month of the season, but have now won 10 of their last 11 games and play some of the best basketball in the country.
Goalkeeper Jason Preston has established himself as a name to watch in the NCAA tournament, finishing with 11 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists for the Bobcats. Preston scored just 52 points in total as a high school student, but he has now played himself on the NBA radar and is one of the best leading guards in the tournament.
“I told him that’s where the stars are born, legacies are made,” Ohio coach Jeff Boals said of Preston. “Give them a lot of credit. [Kihei] Clark is a very good defender. But Jason in the second half managed to overcome a couple, he had huge rebounds … Just a phenomenal effort. It is the heart and soul of our team. The world has seen today who he is and what he is capable of doing. I’m very proud of him. “
Vander Plas, a player a MAC coach told ESPN earlier this week was a “Virginia player,” was arguably the best player on the floor for long Saturdays. He finished with 17 points, five rebounds and four assists, making three triples. At one point in the second half, Vander Plas scored 10 straight points in Ohio.
Trust that the Bobcats can continue as well.
“I think we’re going to every game hoping to win, preparing to win. So we’ll try to win everything,” Vander Plas said. “That’s what we’re here to do. Come on: what is it, five more games? We’ll try to win five more games one at a time.”
Virginia will have many decisions about staff to make in the coming weeks. The Cavaliers have three seniors on their rotation, including starters Sam Hauser and Jay Huff. Murphy, junior, is also an expected second-round NBA draft pick in ESPN’s draft rankings.
However, for a team that entered the season as a top five preseason team, this is a disappointing end to the campaign.
“You know there will probably be better times to talk to them more clearly about what they meant and who they are as men and as players,” Bennett said. “After the game, it doesn’t feel like much. Just try to cheer them on, thank them and tell them they’ll always be a part of it. Once again, they’ll have a regular season ACC championship and they’ll have the opportunity to play in the tournament. That would mean how it ended, but so was the extension. I said I’d like to have some magic words to make the bite go away, but no. Time heals all things. “
Ohio continues to play five-degree Creighton, who endured Saturday’s win at 12-degree UC Santa Barbara. And with Ohio State upset by Friday’s 15-year-old Oral Roberts, the Bobcats are wearing the mantle for The Buckeye State.
“I think we’re happy to move on. We’re very grateful. Our guys came in hoping to win a game,” Boals said. “The fact that we’re the only ones left, I think it’s great for social media and fans. But our car, it’s still coming. We want everyone to support us as much as we can. I think that’s great for our university “.