Written by Brian Pohl
COLUMBIA, SC – In the final NCAA Men’s College Basketball Tournament matchup from Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina, the one-seeded UVA Cavaliers defeated the nine seeded Oklahoma Sooners 63-51 behind a solid all-around performance.
The Sooners came into tonight’s game following a great shooting performance in the first round against Ole Miss. They faced a much more difficult test tonight as they faced the vaunted “Pack Line” defense of UVA, and struggled mightily.
Things started slow for Oklahoma, as the Cavaliers were able to open up on a 7-0 run to begin the contest before the Sooners were able to score. They’d use their strong perimeter offensive ability to make a couple of threes and get right back into things, but shortly after UVA would seize control for essentially the remainder of the game.
UVA head coach Tony Bennett’s squad just seemed to do all the little things better than Oklahoma, outrebounding, creating more turnovers, and using their great depth to sustain their runs, the Cavs were able to keep their double-digit advantage throughout the second half and cruise to the victory.
Leading UVA offensively was forward Mamadi Diakite, who scored 14 points on seven of nine shooting and bringing in nine rebounds on the night. The redshirt junior made his presence known down low on both ends of the floor blocking three shots and coming away with a steal as well. Diakite is a huge bench piece for coach Bennett, as his ability to impact games immediately by doing all of the key things makes him an easy guy to depend on in key moments.
Overall, UVA shot just 48 percent for the game from the field and just 29 percent from behind the arc, but even though they didn’t score at a high clip, they were able to lean on their always stellar defensive effort to win by double digits.
With the win, Virginia advances to the Sweet sixteen just a year after becoming the first one seed ever to lose to a 16 seed in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men’s College Basketball Tournament. This has been an incredible redemption story for coach Bennett and his team, who boast much of the same roster from last year. The Cavs have played well through the first two rounds and will look to keep it going when they face off against the winner of 12 seeded Oregon and 13 seed UC Irvine.
That Sweet 16 matchup will take place next Thursday, March 28th from Louisville, Kentucky with tip-off time and their opponent still to be determined.
