The NCAA tournament got underway on Thursday afternoon and it turned out that one of the games to watch was Virginia vs. Hampton, as the Cavaliers went nuts from beyond the arc. Virginia is a one seed and Hampton was just a 16-seed so there really wasn't much of a question as to who would win.
Don't tell that to Virginia head coach Tony Bennett though, as he was coaching as hard as if it was the national championship game. There was a scary moment when Bennett was shouting instructions at point guard London Perrantes towards the end of the first half. Bennett was really getting into it when he suddenly collapsed to the floor.
The reason for the collapse, according to a team spokesman, was dehydration. Bennett appeared to start blinking swiftly before he fell towards the side of the scorer's table. The head coach was able to put his hand down to break his fall and he was immediately surrounded by the team's trainers as he sat on the floor. Play was stopped with 34 seconds left in the first half, but Bennett was taken back to the locker after sitting on the bench for a little while.
Bennett confirmed during a halftime interview that he was suffering from dehydration and he also revealed that he blacked out, adding that he was OK. As the team was coming back out for the second half it was announced that Bennett was going to continue coaching and he did just that with no further issues.
Virginia won the game in a laugher, 81-45, and will now move on to face Butler in the round of 32. That game will take place on Saturday afternoon, but the concern for Bennett will likely be the main story coming out of this game. Bennett is just 46 years old and insisted afterward that he was just fine. It's always a scary moment though, when you see somebody collapse like that, especially knowing how much these coaches sometimes overwork themselves.
You can watch the short video of Bennett collapsing below.
