Virginia’s reign as national champion was extended by one year thanks to COVID-19.
But his defense of the title did not last long after the NCAA tournament was resumed. 13th place in Ohio surprised fourth place Cavaliers on Saturday, sending Virginia home without a win in this year’s NCAA tournament.
The Bobcats did this without a big night of goals from point guard Jason Preston, while striker Ben Vander Plas beat Ohio in the 62-58 match.
Bobcats make a great race, avoid the last Cavs rally to win
After taking a 28-27 lead at half-time, Virginia looked ready to pull away when they took a 38-31 lead near the middle of the second half. But Ohio went up with a 16-2 run to take a 47-40 lead that he would not abandon.
The Cavaliers did not die without a fight. Virginia recovered from a 58-51 handicap with 25 seconds remaining with a steal and a pair of 3 points, reducing Ohio’s lead to 60-58. But Ohio was not bothered by the free throw line when Preston, Mark Sears and Lunden McDay combined to make 6 to 6 on the strip in the final 44 seconds of the game, ensuring that Virginia could not complete the last rally. The Bobcats hit 13 of the 14 free-throw attempts for the game.
Vander Plas led the Ohio goal with 17 points, five rebounds and four assists. Preston, fully MAC, caused a lot of damage in the area with 11 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists.
Ohio beats Virginia at its own game
The game was played at Virginia’s slow, low-scoring pace, as coach Tony Bennet’s team tends to guarantee. Ohio was almost 19 points below its average score over the season of 80.9 points. But he overcame Virginia at his own game.
The Bobcats limited the Cavaliers to 35 per cent of pitches and 8 of 31 (25.8 per cent) of effort from a distance of 3 points. It was enough to overcome its own 42% effort performance in the field.
The victory sets up a showdown in the second round with the No. 5 seed Creighton on Sunday, while Ohio will try to knock out Sweet 16 of the 13 seed.
For Virginia, it’s a disappointing end to the championship and an earlier one for ACC, who also lost North Carolina, Georgia Tech and Clemson in the first round of the tournament.
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