A week ago, the Commonwealth had Radford locked and a chance to send four more to the first round of the NCAA tournament. Fast forward to now, only three made the tournament and all three knocked out in the first round, including the #1 overall seed, Virginia Cavaliers. Let's breakdown what was an abysmal week for the state.
Radford
No one expected the Highlanders to make the tournament at the start of the year. So, their solid regular season and magical run through the Big South tournament more than exceeded expectations. It's hard to be critical of Radford's first round game against Villanova. Before last night, a 16 seed had never beaten a 1 seed, and most of the match-ups haven't been close. Still, the loss to Wildcats exposed a real problem for Mike Jones' squad; the offense relies too heavily on Ed Polite Jr. Carlik Jones was solid for most of the game but the team shot 34% from the field. Other Big South squads will be preparing all off-season to stop Ed Polite Jr., and force the Radford to find other answers. All of that said, the Highlanders won their conference and return their two best players next season. They'll be back.
Virginia Tech
An up and down season couldn't have been better summarized by Hokies' loss on Thursday night. With just under 9 minutes, Virginia Tech took a lead which quickly vanished and never returned. Just a couple of weeks ago, Virginia Tech won a 2nd straight game against a top-25 opponent and beat Duke. It started to feel as if the Hokies weren't just a tournament team, but a team that could make real noise and win a few games. Yet, following the Duke win, they let a lead slip against Miami, had a complete meltdown against Notre Dame and then lost Thursday to Alabama. Not exactly the finish Buzz Williams was looking for.
There is certainly hope for Hokie fans though. Justin Robinson and and Kerry Blackshear are both expected to return for their senior year, Nickeil Alexander-Walker is but a mere freshman and Buzz Williams brings in a solid recruiting class. Keep in mind, Buzz is just in his 4th year and has coined three-straight 20 win seasons, including back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament. As Chris mentioned on our podcast on Wednesday, now is the time to invest in Buzz Williams and enable him to build on this success.
Virginia
On Wednesday, Tim Scarborough joined the podcast and said the two one-seeds most capable of losing in the first round were Villanova and UVA. While Villanova rolled past Radford, Tim couldn't have been any more correct on Hoos'. Obviously, this is the most disappointing loss of the three Virginia teams. In fact, this may be the most disappointing loss in the history of the tournament.
Considering that UVA only surrendered losses to West Virginia and Virginia Tech, many considered the Hoos' to have a real shot at the Final Four. Everything about this team looked the part, deep roster, no blow-out losses, multiple win-streaks, conference tournament champions. That recipe is often the recipe of a champion. So, what exactly happened to Tony Bennett's squad?
Was it the loss of De'andre Hunter? Possibly...but is a sixth man really the difference between #1 in the country and getting smoked by Maryland Baltimore-County? I go back to what Charles Barkely said on the broadcast after the game. This system is built to win many games throughout the regular season, but it just simply isn't built for the tournament. If a team gets hot from three, UVA struggles. UMBC shot 50% from beyond-the-arc and the Hoos' hit just 4 three's on 22 attempts. Certainly, no one here is calling for the firing on Tony Bennett. He's turned Virginia basketball into a national power. Yet, the lack of tournament success is becoming all-too common.
