Written by Brian Pohl
Columbia, SC- The number one seed in the South bracket of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament had a bit of trouble early but were able to overcome and advance as the University of Virginia defeated Gardner-Webb 71-56.
The Cavaliers were having flashbacks to 2018, where they became the first one seed to lose to a sixteen seed when they lost to UMBC in last year’s tournament, as the Bulldogs of Gardner-Webb, behind a rowdy crowd in Columbia, looked to hit the Wahoos in the mouth from the opening tip.
The result was an early lead for the Bulldogs, who led by as many as 14 in the first-half. Gardner-Webb were able to build the lead thanks to eight UVA turnovers that resulted in nine transition points for head coach Tim Craft’s squad.
UVA seemingly had no answer, as the typically slow pace under head coach Tony Bennett isn’t built to come back from big deficits, but the experienced group began to chip away in the later stages of the first half and went to the locker room trailing Gardner-Webb 36-30.
The second half was a completely different game, as UVA used strong defense and an inside-out offensive attack to quickly get back and take control of the game.
The Cavaliers outscored the Bulldogs 41-20 in the half, shooting 53 percent from the field and 35 percent from behind the arc, and really sucked the life out of Gardner-Webb, suffocating them on defense and using their huge size differential to their advantage inside.
That was the big story of the game, coach Bennett made a gameplan change at the half, and his team really started attacking the paint and using their size to grab every rebound and extend possessions, and the Bulldogs just couldn’t hold on.
Outrebounding Gardner-Webb by a total of 35 to 21, coach Bennett inserted Mamadi Diakite into the starting lineup for the second half and he did not disappoint. Grabbing nine rebounds in the game, with four coming off the offensive glass, the Cavs had their mismatch to exploit, and Virginia was gifted with 19-second chance points in the game to secure the victory.
The win moves the one seed UVA on to the round of 32, where they will take on the nine seeded Oklahoma Sooners on Sunday. It will be a favorable matchup for UVA, who will look to slow Oklahoma to a snail’s pace in a similar fashion to what they did to Gardner-Webb in the second half tonight.
UVA and Oklahoma will tip-off Sunday in Columbia, South Carolina from Colonial Life Arena, with the time still to be determined.
