2015 NCAA Tournament: Virginia Survives upset-minded Belmont

Photo Credit: Patrick McDermott – Getty Images

The first day of the NCAA Tournament was full of nothing but craziness, defining the term ‘March Madness’. Day two has already nearly added to it, thanks to what nearly happened to the two-seed Virginia Cavaliers when they took on the Belmont Bruins. The fifteen-seeded Bruins of Belmont held their own with Virginia’s stout defense throughout the entire game, crawling within four points of the Cavaliers with 2:35 left in the game. Craig Bradshaw had himself a game, scoring 25 points and pulling in nine rebounds.

Unfortunately, Evan Bradds was the only other Bruin to score ten points, as Virginia ended the game on a 15-7 run to win their tournament opener by a score of 79-67. While Virginia is leaving critics a wide open chance to question just how realistic their Final Four chances are, they’re still alive for now. They will take on Tom Izzo and the rejuvenated Michigan State Spartans on Sunday, which should be a low-scoring battle.

ACC-First Team winner Michael Brogdon was one of four Cavaliers to score in double-figures with 22 points, followed by Anthony Gill with 16 points, Justin Anderson with 15 points and Darion Atkins with 10 points. The major edge in this contest was the free-throw line, as Virginia went to the charity strike 25 times and made 21 of them. Belmont had only six free-throw attempts, making five of them. That’s a difference of sixteen extra points for Virginia just at from free-throws. That was absolutely vital.