Jason Preston had 11 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists to lead No. 13 seed Ohio to a 62-58 upset of No. 4 Virginia on Saturday night in a West Region first-round NCAA Tournament game in Bloomington, Ind.
This is the second first-round exit in the last three NCAA tourneys for the Cavaliers, who became the first No. 1 seed ever to lose to a No. 16 seed in 2018 before capturing their first national championship in 2019.
The Bobcats (17-7) have won four straight games and 10 of their last 11. They will face No. 5 seed Creighton (21-8) in the second round on Monday.
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Ben Vander Plas scored a game-high 17 points for the Bobcats and Ben Roderick added 15.
Sam Hauser led Virginia (18-7) with 15 points and nine rebounds. Trey Murphy III had 12 points for the Cavaliers, who shot just 35.0 percent for the game and 25.8 percent (8 of 31) from 3-point range.
The Cavaliers matched their largest lead at 38-31 on Kihei Clark’s layup with 14:36 to play.
The Bobcats responded with an 16-2 run to seize their first lead since it was 3-0. Vander Plas scored the last eight points of the surge to put Ohio up 47-40 with 4:43 remaining.
Virginia fought back, cutting the Bobcats’ lead to 51-49. Roderick answered with a layup and a 3-pointer to push Ohio’s advantage back to 56-49.
After two late buckets by Jay Huff pulled UVA within 58-55, Mark Sears converted two free throws with 12.3 seconds left to make it 60-55.
Murphy then drilled his fourth 3-pointer of the game with eight seconds left to get within 60-58, but Lunden McDay canned two free throws for the final margin.
Virginia led 28-27 after a cold-shooting first half by both teams. Both shot 35.7 percent (10 of 28) from the field and 75 percent (3 of 4) from the foul line, with the Cavs’ 5-4 edge in 3-point field goals the difference.
A 3-pointer by Murphy with 3:57 left gave the Cavaliers the largest lead by either team in the half at 24-17. The Bobcats closed with a 10-4 run, capped by Vander Plas rattling home a straightaway 3-pointer with three seconds left.
–Field Level Media