Seventh seed Michigan State opened the game on a 15-4 run, and #2 seed UVA never recovered, and the Spartans went on to upset the Cavs, 60-54, in the third round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament in Charlotte, N.C., on Sunday.
It marked the second straight year that Michigan State (25-11) eliminated Virginia from the NCAA Tournament.
The ‘Hoos (30-4) did manage to cut the deficit to 23-18 at the half, and a Justin Anderson layup early in the second half had it at 24-22 Michigan State, but the Spartans went on a 13-3 run punctuated by a Bryn Forbes three-pointer pushed the lead back to 12, at 37-25, with 15:11 to go.
An Anthony Gill free throw with 5:33 left cut the lead to 45-41, but UVA would get no closer. A Travis Trice three that went through the net as the shot clock expired pushed the margin back to eight, at 52-44, with 2:52 to go, and the game was not closer than five from there on out.
Virginia shot a woeful 29.8 percent from the floor (17-of-57) for the game, and was just 2-of-17 from three-point range.
Gill had 11 points to lead the Cavs, but was just 3-for-9 from the floor. Darion Atkins had 10 points and 14 rebounds for UVA.
Malcolm Brogdon had nine points on 3-of-12 shooting from the field. Justin Anderson, in his first start since Feb. 7, had eight points on 2-of-7 shooting.
Trice had 23 points to lead Michigan State, which shot 42.5 percent (17-of-40) from the floor and was 6-of-12 (50 percent) from three-point range.
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