What does Iowa football and Virginia basketball have in common? They're both allergic to scoring.
The Cavaliers were a controversial addition to the field of 68 for this year's NCAA Tournament. Snubs all pointed to them as a team unworthy of a March Madness invite and UVA only reinforced that feeling in the First Four against Colorado State on Tuesday night.
Tony Bennett's squad scored 14 points in the first half. That's not a typo. The 27-14 scoreline at the break was a football score. But that wasn't the worst thing about the performance.
Virginia went 52 minutes of real time without scoring a basket. That's not a typo either.
Virginia scored its 14th point of the game at the 9:20 mark of the 1st half.
— Ben Stevens (@BenScottStevens) March 20, 2024
That was at 9:48 PM ET.
Virginia next scored (its 16th point) at the 16:40 mark of the 2nd half.
That was at 10:40 PM ET.
52 minutes of real time between UVA points.
That has to be a record.
They went nearly half of the first half without a basket. They came back from halftime, which accounts for just 15 of those 52 minutes, and waited several more minutes before finally putting one in the net. There were no delays. Just the most mind-numbing offensive display you can imagine.
College basketball Twitter came with the jokes, the memes and the complaints.
Best memes and tweets as Virginia goes 52 minutes without scoring
Virginia basketball: pic.twitter.com/D7LCj892vG
— College Sports Only (@CollegeSportsO) March 20, 2024
Let’s see who Virginia really is . . . https://t.co/HN2kvs4LNY pic.twitter.com/WzydxfBwxH
— Adam Bradford (@Adam_Bradford14) March 20, 2024
Virginia went 52 minutes without scoring. There are soccer teams laughing at them.
— Matt Straub (@Mattatthebank) March 20, 2024
The EPA has ordered the immediate closure and condemnation of @UDArena after several thousand individuals were exposed tonight to a toxic release of Virginia basketball.
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) March 20, 2024
Selection committee watching Virginia score 14 points in the first half pic.twitter.com/UCcFYUwbbj
— Mark Titus (@clubtrillion) March 20, 2024
Why would anyone want to see Indiana State (28-6, No. 1 in the nation in effective FG percentage, averaging 84.4 ppg) in the NCAA Tournament when you can be treated to this viewing experience instead?
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) March 20, 2024
Seton Hall fans chasing the Selection Committee (after Virginia scored 14 points in the first half against Colorado State): pic.twitter.com/jZSEMus9Kr
— Sidelines - Seton Hall (@SSN_SetonHall) March 20, 2024
Teams more deserving to be in this play in game than Virginia:
— CBB Content (@CBBcontent) March 20, 2024
Oklahoma
Seton Hall
Providence
Indiana State
Pitt
Chicago State
Virginia took a beating online on Tuesday night, but no burn stung quite as hard as a backhanded compliment from Pepperdine basketball.
For those still confused, UVA scored 5 more points in the 1st half vs Colorado State than Pacific did vs Pepperdine who scored 9 points in the 1st half of their WCC Tournament Game🤣
— Jack Benjamin (@JackBenjaminPxP) March 20, 2024
Waves led 58-9 at half…
Take another bow @PeppBasketball admin👏💀@mid_madness https://t.co/yoR9gxNxJN pic.twitter.com/OchrfxXqn6
Virginia went 23-10, finishing third in the ACC. However, they finished the season poorly, losing four of their last seven regular-season games. They needed overtime to get by Boston College in the ACC Tournament and fell to NC State in overtime in the next round.
Very few bracketologists had the Cavaliers making the tournament. They appeared in just 23 of 226 brackets collected by BracketMatrix. Skepticism about UVA appears to have been well-founded.
The winner of the First Four matchup is slated to face No. 7 seed Texas in the First Round on Thursday in Charlotte.
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