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Michigan State ends Virginia's season for a second straight year
The ACC's outright regular-season champion is also its first team eliminated from the NCAA tournament.
Second-seeded Virginia could not survive Michigan State's upset bid for a second straight season, falling to the seventh-seeded Spartans 60-54 on Sunday in the round of 32. Michigan State also ended the Cavaliers' season last year in the Sweet 16.
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Whereas Branden Dawson was the difference maker last season for Michigan State, what hurt Virginia most this year was the early and late heroics of guard Travis Trice. The senior had 13 of his game-high 23 points in the opening six minutes to power the Spartans to a 15-4 lead and then he also had a huge late shot clock 3-pointer to extend the gap to eight with less than three minutes to play.
Virginia cut the lead to two early in the second half and to four several times thereafter, but the Cavaliers didn't make enough shots to keep pace. They shot 29.8 percent from the field and 2-of-17 from behind the arc, staying competitive only because they got so many offensive rebounds and Michigan State missed 13 free throws.
Michigan State's victory earns the Spartans a Sweet 16 matchup with either third-seeded Oklahoma or 11th-seeded Dayton, a remarkable accomplishment considering the talent the team lost from last year. Gary Harris, Adreian Payne and Keith Appling are all gone from last year's Elite Eight team and Tom Izzo didn't bring in his usual star-studded recruiting class.
The East Region bracket is wide open for the Spartans to make a Final Four push considering the top two seeds are now out. N.C. State upset top-seeded Villanova on Saturday and awaits either Louisville or Northern Iowa in the other regional semifinal.
An early NCAA tournament exit is a sour finish to an otherwise sweet season for Virginia. The Cavaliers won 30-plus games and the ACC title for a second straight season, but they'll probably always wonder what might have been had second-leading scorer Justin Anderson not fractured a pinkie finger in mid-February.
Virginia never looked the same either without Anderson or after he returned in the ACC tournament.
Not only did outside shooting become a major weakness without Anderson, Malcolm Brogdon was also the only other player who could consistently create his own shot. Less efficient offense and more turnovers led to more transition chances for opponents who were all too eager to score before Virginia could set its formidable pack-line defense.
Anderson looked more comfortable in the NCAA tournament than he did in the ACC tournament, but he still missed all four threes he attempted Sunday. Michigan State packed in its own defense, dared Virginia to shoot from the perimeter and the Cavaliers didn't make enough shots.
The score might have been closer had Virginia received a more favorable whistle. Darion Atkins was called for his fourth foul on a second-half blocked shot that looked clean and Izzo was able to avoid a turnover a few minutes later by calling timeout from the bench even though the Spartans did not have control of the ball.
Those were big calls. They also weren't the reason Virginia lost.
You can't shoot as poorly as the Cavaliers did Sunday and expect to win in the NCAA tournament.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
