Men’s basketball falls to Notre Dame in ACC Quarterfinals

Cavalier Daily

SPORTSVirginia awaits Selection Sunday for March Madness seeding



by Alec Dougherty
| Mar 10 2017 | 1 hour ago

















The No. 6 seed Virginia men’s basketball team dropped a tough game to No. 3 seed Notre Dame in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament Thursday night, 58-71.Virginia (22-10, 11-7 ACC) had a tough time making shots against the lockdown defense of the Fighting Irish (24-8, 12-6 ACC). On the defensive end, the Cavaliers were out-hustled by Notre Dame, allowing the Irish to score several easy points.“We weren’t as sound as we’ve been in the past,” coach Tony Bennett said. “Notre Dame guarded us hard … you could see they were looking forward to playing us.”Notre Dame seemed fired up from the start, as it looked to get its first win against Virginia since joining the ACC.The Cavaliers could not get shots to fall in the first half, while Notre Dame got off to a hot start from the floor. After junior guard Devon Hall made the opening basket for Virginia, the Fighting Irish went on a 10-0 run — which included five points from junior forward Bonzie Colson.The Cavaliers continued to miss shots until junior guard Darius Thompson checked in from the bench. Thompson hit 3-of-4 of his attempts from downtown in the half to keep Virginia within striking distance.Momentum began to shift the Cavaliers’ way when a layup by sophomore forward Jared Reuter cut Notre Dame’s lead to four with under two minutes remaining in the half. However, a questionable foul committed by freshman guard Ty Jerome on the defensive end gave the Fighting Irish two crucial free throws with only three seconds remaining on their shot clock.Virginia went into the half trailing 26-32. In the first frame, the team shot 5-for-10 from beyond the arc, but only 10-for-26 collectively. Notre Dame, conversely, made 52.2 percent of its ...

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