The NCAA tournament expanded to a 64-team field in 1985. In that span of time, No. 16 seeds are 0-124 against their top-seeded opponents. Furthermore, it has been 20 years since a No. 1 seed won by only one possession — Purdue narrowly defeated Western Carolina, 73-71, in 1996.
Virginia, the top seed in the Midwest Region, will look to keep the trend going when they commence their tournament run against No. 16 seed Hampton Thursday afternoon at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C.
The Pirates (21-10) made their second-straight NCAA appearance by virtue of winning the MEAC Tournament. Coach Edward Joyner’s team claimed the overall seed, escaped with a close win over Morgan State and then ran roughshod over Savannah State and South Carolina State to earn the automatic-bid.
Last season, Hampton won a play-in game against fellow-No. 16 seed Manhattan before serving as fodder for then-undefeated Kentucky, 2015’s overall No. 1 seed.
But the squad opposing the Cavaliers (26-7) Thursday is one that is considerably improved. The Pirates of 2015-16 lost eight fewer games, upped their conference win total by five and posted a winning record (8-7) on the road.
Still, Virginia has history firmly on its side. The Cavaliers are 7-0 all-time against Hampton.
Virginia has in Hampton a foe that rests in the bottom third of Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted offensive efficiency — scoring only 99.9 points per 100 possessions. The Pirates do not shoot the ball particularly well from any spot on the floor, and struggle mightily from behind the three-point line, shooting only 30.9 percent — good for 314th in the nation.
Despite struggles shooting the ball, Hampton did lead the MEAC in scoring offense at 74.8 points per game due in part to their fast tempo and ability to crash the offensive glass. The Pirates led their conference with a plus-5.1 rebounding margin and rank 34th nationally in offensive rebounding percentage, cleaning up 34.9 percent of their own misses.
It is highly unlikely Hampton will enjoy any such advantage in the rebounding game against the Cavaliers, who rank 24th in Division I in defensive rebounding percentage. Virginia secures 74 percent of their opponent’s errant shots.
On the offensive end, the Cavaliers must bounce back from their worst shooting performance all season. In the ACC Tournament final against top-seeded North Carolina, Virginia shot an abysmal 36.5 percent, its lowest of the season.
It was in the second half that the Cavaliers’ offense really fell apart. In the final 20 minutes, Virginia misfired on two-thirds of their shots, went almost eight minutes without a field goal and missed 19 of their last 25 attempts.
“Seems like we were getting good shots,” senior forward Anthony Gill said. “We just didn’t convert on them. A lot of guys had wide-open shots that just weren’t falling for us tonight.”
Over the previous four years, MEAC teams have been no stranger to the Cavaliers, playing Virginia five times. Just this season, coach Tony Bennett scheduled an opening game with Morgan State, which resulted in an 86-48 victory. In that contest, four Cavaliers scored in double digits.
Blowouts have been the norm in that span — Virginia’s average margin of victory has been 16 points.
Common sense would predict another big victory by the Cavaliers against Hampton. In their last matchup, the Pirates fell to Virginia, 69-40, as part of the 2013 Corpus Christi Challenge. Former Cavalier guards Joe Harris and Justin Anderson led the way, scoring 20 and 12, respectively. Harris connected on all seven of his shots.
However, the recent past serves to remind Virginia of the potential perils of facing a No. 16 seed. Two years ago, the Cavaliers trailed 16th-seeded Coastal Carolina, 35-30, at halftime. Virginia eventually pulled away and won comfortably, but the memory of that night certainly lives on with the team, their coach and their fans.
“You learn quickly that seeding does not matter whatsoever,” senior forward Evan Nolte said.
In a season that has produced nonstop chaos, every team, even the No. 1 seeds, must be wary of every single matchup.
“You gotta be playing good basketball coming into this because no one is untouchable,” Bennett said.
With a victory over the Pirates, Virginia will face the winner between No. 8 seed Texas Tech and No. 9 seed Butler. Should the Cavaliers fall to Hampton, then they will occupy the most ignominious of pages in the annals of the NCAA Tournament.
Matt Wurzburger is a Sports Editor for the Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at m.wurzburger@cavalierdaily.com or on Twitter @wurzburgerm.
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