RALEIGH, N.C. – Virginia coach Tony Bennett suffered from dehydration, which caused him to collapse near the end of the team’s first-round NCAA tournament game Thursday against Hampton.
Advertisement
Butler Coach Chris Holtmann wasn’t overly concerned when his second-leading scorer Kelan Martin played a quiet first half to open the NCAA Tournament.
“At the beginning of the year, maybe the first five practices, Coach Bennett breaks down one pillar at a time, and those five pillars are really what carries us through the season”, Virginia forward Anthony Gill said. He sat on the bench talking to his assistants for a few moments, appearing to be in noticeable pain.
There was no immediate word on his status. “When you’re squatting down and get up quick, I just grayed out or blacked out”. He grabbed his knee on the sideline with 34 seconds remaining in the half before being placed in a chair and eventually taken to the locker room. Virginia is averaging 70.7 points per game and they are shooting 48.9 percent from the floor while defensively they are allowing 59.2 points and their opponents are shooting 41.8 percent.
As Bennett was down, senior Anthony Gill came over to pray over his head coach. Marvelle Harris, the Mountain West’s player of the year, led the Bulldogs with 24 points.
The Cavaliers earned their second No. 1 seed in the past three years this season after compiling a 26-7 record during the regular season. The matchup featured eight ties and 12 lead changes, and despite Texas Tech building an eight-point first-half lead, the Bulldogs carried a 30-28 advantage into halftime. The three likely would have scored more if the game wasn’t out of reach early. What matters is our guys, and them processing this in the right way, and us being as supportive as we can to those that are going through this, ‘ ” Holtmann said.
Junior point guard London Perrantes says, “It all starts with our defense”.
Shayok’s unimpressive season statistics – 4.1 points and 1.8 rebounds in 14.8 minutes per game – belie his value as one of Virginia’s key weapons off the bench. He also averages 6.2 assists, 5 rebounds and attempts 6.7 free throws per game.
Check out the scores below as they come in.
Advertisement
Butler stands in the way of Virginia’s second Sweet 16 in three years and a path to the Final Four that was unimaginable on Selection Sunday. Reginald Jackson had 10 as well, but was just 4 of 13 from the field.
