NCAA Tournament 2019: Top takeaways from 2nd half of Round of 32 games
By Brian Rauf
6) Virginia is back to looking like Virginia
Remember a few short days ago when everyone was wondering if Virginia would lose to a No. 16 seed again?
Yeah, we can officially put that in our rear-view mirror.
The Cavaliers came out on Sunday and played typical boa constrictor style, gradually suffocating Oklahoma on their way to a convincing 63-51 win that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated.
Virginia trailed for only five minutes in the first half but built a double-digit lead shortly thereafter and kept a sizable advantage for the remainder of the game. They limited the Sooners, who scored 95 points in their previous game against Ole Miss, to their second-lowest scoring output of the season on just 36.5 percent shooting.
UVA also showed some offensive versatility as Kyle Guy, their leading scorer, shot just 2/15 from the field and was 0/10 from three. Instead, five other players finished with at least nine points to pick up the slack.
With the burden of losing to a No. 16 seed behind them, it was clear that the Cavaliers were playing a much more relaxed game. They’re back to being themselves and that’s bad news for the rest of the South Region.