COLUMBIA, S.C. _ Surely lightning couldn't strike twice on a clear, sunny day in March. Surely Virginia couldn't lose for a second straight year as a No. 1 seed to a No. 16 seed _ in this case, plucky Gardner-Webb, the school from Boiling Springs, N.C., making its first appearance in the NCAA Division I tournament.
And no, we never did see that lightning. It took awhile, but the Cavaliers did avert a second straight monumental embarrassment in the NCAA Tournament, making up all of a 14-point first-half deficit and winning, 71-56, over Gardner-Webb.
Yet it wasn't as easy as that final score makes it sound. For more than a half there was figurative thunder rumbling in the distance. Gardner-Webb led at halftime by six points and by double figures for much of the first half, playing beautiful basketball despite being overmatched athletically.
Early on, the Runnin' Bulldogs kept forcing turnovers and seemed to make every shot that was open and a few that were not. The neutral fans in the crowd _ many of them Duke fans awaiting the latest installment of "The Zion Williamson Show" in the nightcap _ began screaming for Gardner-Webb.
A worried-looking Tony Bennett called timeout at one juncture when his Virginia team got down by 12. By halftime, Gardner-Webb led Virginia, 36-30, and the words "upset alert" were flashing around America.
In the NCAA's men's basketball tournament, No. 1 seeds entered this March with a 135-1 all-time record against No. 16 seeds. The "one" was No. 16 seed UMBC's startling, 20-point whipping of No. 1 Virginia in Charlotte last March. That game was on everyone's minds in the Colonial Life Arena Friday as Gardner-Webb, the Big South champion from about an hour's drive west of Charlotte, kept playing so well.
But Virginia went 16-2 in the ACC and tied for the conference regular-season title for a number of reasons. The Cavaliers began the second half with a 14-2 run in the first five minutes, grabbing a 44-38 lead. Gardner-Webb not only couldn't make a shot anymore, the Bulldogs often couldn't get one off _ this time it was Virginia forcing all the turnovers.
When it went away, it went away quickly. With 11:23 still to go in the game, Virginia had already extended its lead to 11 points and, in reality, it was over.
UMBC, amazingly, never let Virginia back into the game. Gardner-Webb did, and then the Cavaliers' confidence returned.
