Virginia basketball leaves the 2024 NCAA Tournament just as they entered it, to the tune of thunderous criticism. Many doubted the Cavaliers' March Madness legitimacy after they struggled in the final month of the season, and the team did nothing to prove them wrong Tuesday night.
Colorado State trounced the Wahoos in their First Four face-off, 67-42. Once again, Virginia could not put points on the board, marking the fifth time since Feb. 17 that it did not score 50. This flop in Dayton, Ohio is especially bitter for head coach Tony Bennett and company, as it calls back to another humiliating defeat the program suffered in the month of March.
This showing marks the second-fewest points ever scored by an ACC squad in the NCAA Tournament, behind only the 2017 Virginia team that was annihilated 65-39 by Florida in the second round, per ESPN (originally the AP). Despite the success Bennett and the Cavaliers have enjoyed over the last decade, they can't quite escape the bracket blues.
Virginia was just 14-of-56 from the field (25 percent) with Reece Beekman likely ending his prolific career in Charlottesville on an ice cold note (4-of-16). A dreadful offensive outing was bad enough, but the Hoos also failed to execute their signature brand of suffocating defense. Or any defense, for that matter. The Rams shot a blistering 55.4 percent from the floor, scoring half of their points in the paint and 10 more on the free throw line.
There is always a risk that Virginia basketball underwhelms during March Madness due to their glacial pace of play, but this thrashing could force Tony Bennett to at least make minor adjustments going forward. The only ones who might be more bothered by this loss than the Cavaliers are the Oklahoma Sooners, the team that just missed out on the field of 68.
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