Virginia’s Tony Bennett Says Program Will Evaluate ‘System’ After Brutal NCAA Tournament Loss

Virginia swiftly exited the men’s NCAA tournament on Tuesday night after getting blown off the court by fellow No. 10 seed Colorado State of the Mountain West, 67–42, in the First Four matchup in Dayton.

The Cavaliers scored just 14 first half points, and went the final 9:20 on the first half without scoring any points. Virginia shot just 25% from the field overall and 17.6% from three. UVA also made just 11 of its 17 free throw attempts. 

It was Colorado State’s first tournament victory in 11 years.

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After the harrowing offensive effort, Virginia coach Tony Bennett said that his program, which is just five years removed from a national title, will reevaluate everything.

“It’s frustrating because … we’ve been to a couple of Sweet 16s and an Elite Eight and a national championship. But there have been hard losses in the first round, and that’s frustrating,” Bennett told reporters. “… And I think, absolutely, I always have to examine our ability to advance. We’ve raised the bar really high here. We’ve qualified for this tournament, which is not an easy thing. We’ve done well. But it’s stung to get to this point and not advance. So, of course, we’ve got to keep adding quality players. We’ve got to look at things, certainly, from a system standpoint, absolutely.”

Despite a 13–7 record in league play and a solo third place finish in the ACC during the regular season, the Cavaliers are going back home, leaving the future Hall of Fame coach in Bennett with a long offseason to think about where to improve the program from here to meet the high bar he’s set with his past success.