A season short of expectations came to an end last Wednesday as the Virginia men's basketball team squandered a nine-point lead in the second half en route to a 74-67 loss to South Carolina in the first round of the National Invitational Tournament.
Virginia was ranked as high as fourth in the nation this season, but their NCAA tournament hopes came crashing down in March as the Cavaliers lost 10 of their last 13 games.
The Cavaliers were 14-2 Jan. 26, when the defense faltered and allowed opponents to shoot better than 50 percent from the floor in nine of those 13 games.
"We just stopped playing defense," coach Pete Gillen said. "We went through long stretches where we couldn't score, and maybe that affected our defense. We are disappointed. This is not the way we wanted our season to end."
The Cavaliers started slowly, falling behind the Gamecocks 15-8 nine minutes into the game. The crowd of 4,983 helped Virginia rally behind the strong performance of junior forward Travis Watson, who had 16 points and eight rebounds, and the Cavaliers led 33-27 at the half.
|
Virginia looked as though it might put South Carolina away as Roger Mason Jr. extended the lead to nine with a three-pointer out of the corner to begin the second half. Those thoughts were short lived, however, as South Carolina's Jamal Bradley came down to the other end of the court and drilled a three to cut the lead to six again.
Rolando Howell, who had 24 points and eight rebounds for the Gamecocks, continued the comeback with Watson on the bench because of foul trouble.
South Carolina turned the six-point halftime deficit into an eight-point lead with 6 minutes 10 seconds remaining in the game. Most of South Carolina's comeback came with Watson, who ended up with 26 points and 13 rebounds, watching. He picked up three quick fouls in five minutes of action to begin the second half.
"Our defense usually begins to go with Travis on the bench," Gillen said. "We have had defensive problems all year and it was much of the same thing tonight.
"It is very shocking how it all ended," Mason said. "I know we are a better team that this. We have talent"
Read More
Football lands three additional transfers
By Peter Kriebel | YesterdayOne common trait that stands out with this most recent batch of transfers is size.
Men’s basketball suffers road drubbing versus California
By Emory Huffman | YesterdayVirginia submitted another rudderless performance.
