NCAA Tournament: Virginia wins 53-49 over Oregon

The No. 1 Virginia Cavaliers advanced to the Elite Eight with a 53-49 victory over the No. 12 Oregon Ducks Thursday night in the Sweet 16.

Waiting for Virginia (32-3) in Saturday’s South Regional final will be No. 3 Purdue, which earlier in the night beat No. 2 Tennessee 99-94 in overtime.

The Cavaliers saw four of their five starters reach double-digit scoring, led by junior guard Ty Jerome, who scored 13 points and added six rebounds and six assists.

Freshman forward Louis King led the Ducks (25-13) with 16 points in the loss, which snapped the team’s winning streak at 10 games.

Virginia, which became the first No. 1 seed to a No. 16 seed with a loss to UMBC last year, struggled a bit early against their 16th-seeded opponent this year, trailing Gardner-Webb by 14 points in the first half before winning 71-56.

The Cavaliers then beat No. 9 Oklahoma 63-51 in the second round.

Thursday night’s game marks the 10th time in program history — and third in six seasons — that Virginia has played in the Sweet 16.

The Cavaliers will be playing in their seventh overall Elite Eight, with the last such berth before this season coming in 2016, and attempting to reach the program’s third overall Final Four after doing so previously in 1981 and 1984.