CHICAGO — Deonte Burton insisted the final game of the season was not the end for Iowa State. Even so, this was a painful way to bow out of the NCAA Tournament.
Anthony Gill finished with a season-high 23 points, Mike Tobey came off the bench to score 18, and top-seeded Virginia beat the Cyclones 84-71 in the Midwest Region semifinals on Friday night.
“I’m pretty confident we’ll be back in this position,” Burton said.
If they are, they had better start on a stronger note.
The fourth-seeded Cyclones (23-12) just about got blown off the court in the early going and could not make up for it in the second half, so Virginia (29-7) advanced to its first regional final since 1995.