Suffocating No. 1 UVA Defense Leads to Win vs. No. 9 Oklahoma in NCAA Tournament

No. 1 Virginia continues to avenge its recent NCAA tournament failures with a 63-51 Round 2 victory over No. 9 Oklahoma.

Mamadi Diakite was the surprise star with 14 points, nine rebounds and three blocks to lift the Cavaliers to the win Sunday in Columbia, South Carolina. The defense was as good as ever, holding the Sooners to just 36.5 percent shooting.

It was enough for Virginia to reach the Sweet 16 after failing to escape the first weekend in either of the last two years.

Christian James did what he can to help Oklahoma with 13 points, but the top-seeded Cavaliers were just too much to handle.

While Virginia often relies on its stars offensively, it was a balanced attack in Round 2. This was especially true in the first half with seven players tallying between three and six points. 

Little-used forward Jay Huff showcased his ability with a three-pointer plus this dunk:

Diakite then had some big plays on his way to a huge day on both ends:

Mamadi Diakite with the Jam

Mamadi Diakite flies in for the alley-oop slam

Kyle Guy, who was the team's leading scorer during the season, struggled with his shot against Oklahoma while finishing 2-of-15 from the field (0-of-10 from three-point range). However, he still helped the offense with some nifty passing:

On a day where Guy and De'Andre Hunter combined for just 14 points, the offense was just fine.

Virginia built a nine-point lead at halftime and led by double digits nearly the entire second half thanks mostly to its suffocating defense.

Oklahoma shot just 36.7 percent inside the three-point arc in the game, showing just how difficult it was to get open looks.

James needed 13 shots to get his 13 points.

The Cavaliers struggled against No. 16 Gardner-Webb a year after losing to No. 16 UMBC. The slow pace and defense-first strategy has seemed to make them susceptible to early-round upsets like we have seen in the past few years.

However, they got back on track in Round 2 and now seem like they will be a difficult team to beat for the rest of the tournament.

What's Next?

Virginia will now try to take advantage of a busted bracket with either No. 12 Oregon or No. 13 UC Irvine waiting in the next round.