RALEIGH, N.C. – Despite a first half struggle and a few anxious moments in the second half, the Virginia men’s basketball team knew what it needed to do to advance in the NCAA Tournament: trust its defense.
The Cavaliers did exactly that to pull away to a 70-59 win against Coastal Carolina on Friday night. After allowing the Chanticleers to shoot 52% in the first half, the Cavaliers clamped down in the second half when they allowed just 32% shooting. That was enough to earn a trip to the round of 32 where the Hoos will meet Memphis on Sunday at 8:40 p.m.
“I think we had a little bit of pressure on us. We were really nervous. People haven’t been here. … It was definitely something we had to get out, get the jitters out,” UVa freshman London Perrantes said. “It took us a half to start playing our game. We know if we play like that on Sunday, it’s going to be a little bit too late. I’m glad we got it out of our system and we’ll be ready on Sunday.”
“We did not defend very well in the first half,” senior Joe Harris said. “Coastal Carolina hit some tough shots, but there were some moments where it was little mistakes whether it was losing vision, not communicating, or just the little stuff where we weren’t as fine tuned as we thought we were going to be in the first half. As soon as we figured that out in the second half and got back to doing what we do and communicating with one another and really focusing on getting stops that’s when it translated into offensive baskets for us.”
The defensive wherewithal actually started late in the first half after Coastal used a 17-4 burst to lead 31-21 with 4:25 to go before intermission. At that point in the game, CC had made 12 of 21 shots (57.1%) and 5 of 8 3-pointers (62.5%). The Chanticleers closed the half just 1 of 4, however, and managed to make only 8 of 25 shots (32%) after halftime. Their 3-point shooting cooled off too as they made only 4 of 11 (36.4%) after the hot start.
That helped the Hoos rally to win from a double-digit deficit for the second time this season. They trailed by 11 points on Feb. 18 at Virginia Tech, but prevailed 57-53. It also delivered the program’s first NCAA Tournament win since 2007 and tied the 1982-83 team with the 29th victory of the season.
None of that came without some challenges, but Cavalier coach Tony Bennett addressed his team at halftime and told them to play without fear.
“There was some bickering going on. You could feel the guys, come on, what’s wrong? We shouldn’t be in this spot. I just told them, I said, you guys have been so unified all year. That’s a strength of yours. You’re an unselfish team. When you’ve played your best ball, your unified. Now you’re going to start fracturing?” Bennett said. “I said you have to come together in a way that you haven’t all year, because of what’s at stake and I said they’re capable of beating you. I said, stop being afraid. If you lose, you lose. I said play. I said, play as hard as you can defensively. You’ve got to lay everything you’ve got defensively and let it come offensively.”
UVa already had cut the lead to five points by halftime and it quickly jumped on Coastal in the second half. The Cavaliers took the lead at the 16:39 mark and, even though CC tied it once more at 47-47, never trailed again. Perrantes broke that final tie with three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point shot and reserve Evan Nolte followed that up with two 3-pointers that seemed to push the Hoos over the final hump.
Nolte finished with 8 points, while four other Cavaliers recorded double figures. Anthony Gill led the way with 17 points behind 7-of-10 shooting. He added 5 rebounds and 2 blocked shots in 29 minutes. Malcolm Brogdon added 14 points, while Perrantes and Harris added 12 and 11 points, respectively. Those three perimeter starters combined for 14 assists with 0 turnovers in the game. The Hoos made 13 of 20 shots (65%) after halftime.
As a result, Virginia avoided a historic moment as a No. 16 seed has never beaten a No. 1 seed in this event. The Cavaliers, however, weren’t worried about how the win came, only that it did.
“You guys love the satisfying, unsatisfying victories and losses and stuff like that. A win is a win at this point,” UVa senior Akil Mitchell said. “I’ll take it.”
