DAYTON, Ohio — Joel Scott had 23 points and 11 rebounds as Colorado State defeated Virginia 67-42 in the First Four on Tuesday night for Colorado State’s first championship in 11 years.
Neek Clifford had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Rams (25-10), who advanced as the No. 10 seed and will face No. 7 Texas on Thursday in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Reece Beekman scored 15 points on 4-of-16 shooting for the University of Virginia, which hasn’t won in the NCAA Tournament since winning the national title in 2019. That includes two losses in the first round as a No. 4 seed.
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Virginia finished third in the Atlantic Coast Conference, but struggled offensively all season with just two Quad 1 wins.
Colorado State dominated the boards and the Cavaliers were unable to catch up, shooting 25% for the entire game. The Rams shot 55%, outrebounded the Cavaliers 43-24 and scored 36 points in the paint.
Virginia finished with the second fewest points among ACC teams in the NCAA Tournament, trailing only coach Tony Bennett’s 2017 Cavaliers team, which lost 65-39 to Florida State in the second round.
Virginia shot badly from the start and Colorado State built a 27-14 lead at halftime.
The Cavaliers made 5 of 29 shots (17%) in the first half, but were unable to score with 9:20 remaining. At intermission, Beekman had one of his nine points and Scott had 10 points for the Rams.
The Rams scored the first eight points of the second half before Virginia got another basket.
