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Colorado State eliminated Virginia 67-42 in Tuesday’s NCAA Tournament First Four games at Dayton, Ohio.
The 10 seed Rams (25-10) will face No. 7 seed Texas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Advance. The. Rams!!!#TeamTogether x @AlpineGardens pic.twitter.com/1UBnCqKlHN
— Colorado State Men’s Basketball (@CSUMBasketball) March 20, 2024
First Half
Virginia (23-11) struck first with a basket from Ryan Dunn. From there, Colorado State took control, going up 14-9 with about 10:30 left in the half. CSU kept adding on points, up 25-14 with about two minutes left in the half. At the end of the first half, the Rams led 27-14.
Cavaliers coach Tony Bennett said the lack of offense led to struggles defensively. Their defense did not allow them to stay in the game and allowed for the Rams to pull away.
Second Half
The Rams kept firing away, taking a commanding 20 point lead three minutes in the second half, 34-14.
Virginia got their first points of the second half from Reece Beekman, still down 35-16.
Colorado State continued looking dominant, up 49-29 with about nine minutes left in the game. Colorado State guard Nique Clifford made it 55-33 with a pull-up shot. The Rams did not let up, going on to score 12 more to end the half.
Rams coach Niko Medved said Colorado State was effective in communication and played together well.
