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The Virginia Cavaliers saw a quick exit in the 2024 NCAA Tournament after being soundly beaten by Colorado State. In that matchup, Tony Bennett’s group failed to reach the 50-point mark for the fifth time in its last nine contests.
The 25-point shellacking only confirmed what many college basketball fans and media already believed…
A team that entered Selection Sunday ranked No. 54 in the NET with a 4-5 mark over its final nine games got the nod over snubs like Indiana State, Seton Hall, St. John’s, and Providence – and they played as you’d expect.
Things started slowly for the Virginia offense as it scored just four points over the first five minutes of play. Things would somehow get worse after that.
The Cavs were held scoreless for the final nine-plus minutes of the first half, a drought that continued more than three minutes into the second half.
UVA scored just 14 points before halftime while shooting 17%, and that scoreless streak led to a brutal troll by the TruTV broadcast.
You know how bad it has to be for the broadcast to mention the ACTUAL TIME since you last scored?
This was almost an hour of real time. pic.twitter.com/3YietGOi6U
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) March 20, 2024
The Cavaliers scored a basket at 9:48 PM ET. They wouldn’t score again until around 10:40 PM.
An hour of real time in between makes.
Accounting for the halftime break, that’s still close to 40 minutes of real-time hilarity as the offense missed an absurd 20 consecutive shots.
The scoring went up over the final 15 minutes with the team finishing at 42 points on the night. Still, it did little to quiet those who didn’t believe the Cavaliers belonged in the field.
The CBS crew ripped into Virginia and the NCAA Selection Committee.
“[The committee] made a mistake putting Virginia into the NCAA Tournament,” said Wally Szczerbiak. “Every bracketologist was saying it. They go out and play like this. It’s unwatchable basketball the way they played today on national TV.”
“[The committee] made a mistake putting Virginia into the NCAA Tournament. Every bracketologist was saying it. They go out and play like this. It’s unwatchable basketball the way they played today on national TV.”
—@wallyball pic.twitter.com/QwfrZgz86X
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 20, 2024
Co-host Chris Walker echoed that sentiment.
“The energy was against them, Adam. Everyone said they did not belong, and you know what they went and did, play like they did not belong.”
“The energy was against them, Adam. Everyone said they did not belong and you know what they went and did, play like they did not belong.”
—@CWalkerSports on Virginia pic.twitter.com/8EJmeGJzPk
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 20, 2024
Tough night for Virginia.