Early Associated Press reports indicated that Virginia would meet Houston in the third round of the College Basketball Invitational, but it will be Bradley coming to John Paul Jones Arena on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
While the brackets on the cbi2008.com website indicated that the East region would meet the West region in the third round, the fine print said that teams would be reseeded after the second round.
Bradley (19-15) trailed 63-49 before going on a 21-3 run with 9:09 remaining. The Braves defeated visiting Ohio University 79-73.
Notes from Virginia's 80-76 victory over visiting Old Dominion:
VIRGINIA BASKETBALL
Postgame Notes
Virginia 80, Old Dominion 76
Team Notes
• Virginia had five different players score in double figures for the third time this season
• With tonight’s win, Virginia has won consecutive games in a postseason tournament for the first time since the 1995 NCAA Tournament
Individual Notes
• Sean Singletary (22 points) scored in double figures for the 54th consecutive game, the longest active streak in the ACC and the longest streak in school history
• Sean Singletary had the 43rd 20-point game of his career (16th this season)
• Sean Singletary (22 points, 10 assists) had his fifth double-double of the season (fourth as points-assists)
• Sean Singletary moved into 29th place on the ACC career scoring list with 2,062 points, passing Maryland’s Albert King (2,058), Georgia Tech’s Travis Best (2,057) and North Carolina’s Lenny Rosenbluth (2,045)
• Sean Singletary’s steal in the final 10 seconds was his 200th career steal
Player Career Highs
• Sean Singletary tied his career high with 10 assists
Quotes:
VIRGINIA BASKETBALL
Postgame Quotes
Virginia 80, Old Dominion 76
Virginia Head Coach Dave Leitao
Opening comments:
“That was one of the more gut-wrenching games I’ve been involved with for a very long time. The way that both teams went after each other: the way that they started, the way that we came back, the way that they came back at us before halftime, the way that we came back at them after halftime. Then they responded again, and we came back and got up four, they came back and got up four. It was like that all the way to the end. In the end, everybody can have who they've got, and I’ll take Sean Singletary. He just continues to rewrite a story that’s already a bestseller in the annals of Virginia basketball. The three-pointer, at any other angle, probably would have missed, but thankfully it was head-on. Then the steal was something that you might be able to tell your children about 10, 20 years from now. He’s truly amazing.”
Did Sean create a miracle tonight?
“He gave us a chance. He’s given this team, this family, this program, a chance over the past four years, and made all this possible. We’ve been able to ride on his shoulders for a very long time. He’s a player that we should be having more conversations about—one in a million.”
On Sean’s last minute three-pointer and steal:
“People may say that the shot was lucky, but luck is a byproduct of hard work. You put yourself in a position to be lucky, so I don’t think it was a lucky shot. When a guy has done what Sean’s done in preparation, shots like that do go in at big moments. We’ve seen it last weekend, the weekend before that, and all over the place. The ironic thing about the steal is that he took the ball from the Colonial Athletic Association Defensive Player of the Year (Brandon Johnson), who led the conference in steals. It was a very fitting way to win a basketball game for us.”
Old Dominion Head Coach Blaine Taylor
Opening Statement:
“The game went according to script as far as we were concerned. We thought we could give them some problems early and we did. We knew they would come back at us and they did. We took a nice lead to the locker room. We knew they would come out of the locker room and it would be a battle. They gave us their best shot, got up six. My kids never went away, they kept battling. We put ourselves in a position to win at the end of the game. A little bit of this, a little bit of that; just one play from us walking out a winner. Hats off to them and best of luck as they go into the rest of tournament.”
“I am really proud of our team. There was a point in early February when we were struggling, trying to find ourselves and my older kids really hung in there. Great attitude about whatever it took for our team, and our young kids developed. We had a nice run in February winning six out of seven [games] and of course we made a statement in this tournament that we could have played as well as anybody if we had been given a chance to pursue the next round.”
Virginia Senior Point Guard Sean Singletary
On his late game steal:
“He liked to use the crossover and was very deliberate with his moves. When he went to the retreat dribble, I knew he was going to crossover, so I stuck my hand out and he put the ball right in my hands.”
On his mindset down the stretch:
“I knew we had to stay calm, and stay poised. Luckily for us, in this building, we had a lot of momentum and energy on our side, but we had to stay poised and focused.”
On this game being memorable:
“When I look back on my career, this will definitely be one of the bright spots. It was a team effort. Jamil [Tucker], Adrian [Joseph] and Mamadi [Diane] really stepped up and played big. Without their contributions, our season would be over.”
Virginia Sophomore forward Jamil Tucker
On Sean’s performance down the stretch:
“The ending to this one follows right up there with the Duke shot. The steal, the three-pointer, and the last few sequences were something a lot of players can’t do. “
On the team’s defense:
“Coach harps on playing good defense. We know our defense fuels our offense so it was really important for us to stay focused and make plays on the defensive side of the ball.”
On hitting big threes:
“With penetrators like Sean and Calvin [Baker] always setting you up, your job is just to get to the right spots. As someone who is going to shoot off their penetration, I just have to make sure I am in a good spot for them to get me the ball.”
Old Dominion Senior Guard Brandon Johnson
On what he thought while Sean Singletary was defending him at the half court:
“I was just thinking, get to the basket. I was thinking of going up with my right hand, but he stood right there, he played that well. When I tried to cross over, he was right there.”
On Sean’s speed:
“He is pretty quick. Out of all the players I’ve played, he’s probably up there in the top five.”
Old Dominion Senior Guard Brian Henderson
On the loss:
“It’s tough. But what can you do but just hold your head up. We played well. All of my teammates played hard.”
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