Virginia ousts Oklahoma, advances to Sweet 16

Mamadi Diakite has bounced in and out of the starting lineup this season but it will be hard to keep him out if he keeps playing like he did this weekend.

The Virginia center turned in his second strong performance in helping the Cavs past Oklahoma, 63-51, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Virginia advances to the Sweet 16 for the third time in six seasons.

Diakite, who found out he was starting Sunday morning, scored 14 points and had eight rebounds. It comes on the heels of his 17-point, nine-rebound game Friday in the first round against Gardner-Webb.

Diakite also had three blocks in the first half to help spearhead another strong defensive effort. The Cavaliers held the Sooners to 36.5 percent from the field in holding Oklahoma to second-lowest point total of the year.

The Sooners scored 95 points in a first-round win over Ole Miss.

With the score tied at 13 in the first half, Virginia went on an 18-5 over an eight-minute stretch and took control of the game.

Christian James and Brady Manek led Oklahoma with 13 points each.

Next

Virginia will play Oregon on Thursday in the Sweet 16 at Louisville, Kentucky . Oklahoma’s season is over.

Numbers and notes

Record season:. With the win Sunday, Virginia tied a school-record with 31 victories, which was set last season.

Quotable

Virginia coach Tony Bennett: “We got off to a rocky start last game, Mamadi, all of us, and Mamadi responded. He just kept playing and stayed steady. So certainly maturity, resilience, those are things that - you know, it’s just part of the maturation process that each player kind of comes at differently, and I say it all the time. He’s newer to the game, and he’s young and joyful and all those things, and to be able to handle adversity or a hard start, that’s a separator for a lot of players. He’s definitely coming in the right direction, and he was terrific yesterday and today.”

Virginia center Mamadi Diakite: “I was locked in, and I was trying to respond to the challenge Coach gave me. He started me tonight, and I wanted to prove him that I was ready to play. So I did so.”

Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger: “They’re really good. I thought we had a rhythm on our offensive end. I thought they did what they wanted to on their offensive end. As they do, they dictate to you, and we didn’t fight that quite well enough. But proud of our guys. Our guys fought like crazy throughout the year.”

Box score

Manek 5-13 0-0 13, Doolittle 4-10 0-0 8, James 4-13 2-2 13, Odomes 1-3 0-0 2, Bieniemy 3-7 0-0 7, Freeman 1-1 0-0 3, Polla 0-0 0-0 0, McNeace 0-1 0-0 0, Calixte 0-3 0-0 0, Reynolds 1-1 3-4 5. Totals 19-52 5-6 51.

Diakite 7-9 0-1 14, Clark 3-5 2-2 9, Hunter 4-9 0-0 10, Jerome 5-10 0-0 12, Guy 2-15 0-0 4, Huff 2-3 0-0 5, Salt 0-1 0-0 0, Key 4-4 0-2 9. Totals 27-56 2-5 63.

Halftime: Virginia 31-22. 3-Point Goals: Oklahoma 8-22 (James 3-8, Manek 3-9, Freeman 1-1, Bieniemy 1-2, Calixte 0-2), Virginia 7-24 (Jerome 2-3, Hunter 2-5, Key 1-1, Clark 1-2, Huff 1-2, Diakite 0-1, Guy 0-10). Fouled Out: Hunter. Rebounds: Oklahoma 26 (Reynolds 7), Virginia 34 (Diakite, Key 9). Assists: Oklahoma 9 (James 3), Virginia 10 (Jerome, Guy 3). Total Fouls: Oklahoma 10, Virginia 11.

This story was originally published March 24, 2019 at 9:57 PM.