Close But No Cigar: Halftime Lead Evaporates for #16 Coastal vs. #1 UVA
March 21st, 2014 - 23:17
Close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades, bombs, government work and drive-in movies. A No. 16 seed never has defeated a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament in 120 such match-ups since the playoff field expanded to at least 64 teams in 1985.
But when Coastal Carolina grabbed a five-point halftime lead against Virginia, hope sprung eternal that somehow/somewhere/someway/someday a #16 seed will prevail and become the ultimate giant killer. A superior second-half performance enabled UVA to win by a double-digit margin. If history means anything, a single-digit result would have revealed a chink in the Cavaliers' armor. None of the first 12 #1 seeds in the following "shaky-start" category went on to capture the NCAA championship and only three of them - Duke '86, Illinois '89 and North Carolina '97 - advanced to the Final Four:
Year Margin Regional Single-Digit Outcome Between #1 and #16 NCAA Playoff Seeds 1989 1 East Georgetown 50 (Mourning team-high 21 points), Princeton 49 (Scrabis 15) 1989 1 Southeast Oklahoma 72 (King 28), East Tennessee State 71 (Dennis 20) 1996 2 West Purdue 73 (Austin 18), Western Carolina 71 (McCollum 21) 1985 4 Southeast Michigan 59 (Tarpley 15), Fairleigh Dickinson 55 (Wilson 12) 1990 4 Southeast Michigan State 75 (Smith 22), Murray State 71 (Jones 37)* 1989 6 Midwest Illinois 77 (Battle 18), McNeese State 71 (Cutright 28) 2013 6 West Gonzaga 64 (Olynyk 21), Southern 58 (Beltran 21) 1986 7 East Duke 85 (Dawkins 27), Mississippi Valley State 78 (Coleman 24) 2012 7 East Syracuse 72 (Southerland 15), UNC Asheville 65 (Primm 18) 2013 7 South Kansas 64 (Withey 17), Western Kentucky 57 (Crook 13) 1997 8 East North Carolina 82 (Carter 22), Fairfield 74 (Francis 26) 1986 9 West St. John's 83 (Berry 31), Montana State 74 (Hampton 21) 1990 9 Midwest Oklahoma 77 (Jones 19), Towson State 68 (Lee 30) 1996 9 Southeast Connecticut 68 (Allen 24), Colgate 59 (Foyle 21)
*Overtime.