By then it was too late.
Joel Scott scored 23 points to lead the Rams (25-10) while Nique Clifford added 17 and Patrick Cartier had 12.
“Just a terrific performance really on both ends of the floor from the opening tip,” CSU coach Niko Medved said.
“I didn’t see this coming like this way tonight at all, but I’m pretty pleased,” he added with a laugh. “What an incredible win for these guys and our program.”
Isaac McNeely made a 3-pointer at the 10:30 mark to pull Virginia within a basket at 14-12, but the Cavaliers did not make another field goal in the first half.
They were outscored 13-2 from that point, getting their lone points from the free throw line.
Virginia shot 22% in the first half, missing 24 of 29 shot attempts, while Colorado State went 12 for 24 from the field and doubled the Cavaliers up on the boards, 24 to 12.
CSU was able to get inside the Virginia defense, scoring 18 points in the paint, while keeping the Cavaliers out, holding them to four.
The second half didn’t start much better for the Cavaliers, who missed their first four shots and fell behind 35-14 before Reece Beekman finally hit a 15-foot jumper with 16:37 on the clock.
That ended a scoreless stretch of 12:43 and 13:53 without a Virginia field goal.
The Cavaliers (23-11) got within 15 at the 10-minute mark on 3-pointer by Jacob Groves, but Cartier answered with a triple and Scott hit a pair of free throws to stem the tide.
A large portion of the crowd stayed until late in the second half, and a boisterous group of Rams backers rejoiced as the final seconds ticket off the clock.
“I don’t think anything against them is easy,” Scott said. “I think we executed Coach’s game plan the way he wanted us to, which it definitely helped.
“But I also just think playing in an arena like this is special. I walked in and just took a moment just to look around and see all the fans that came out to just watch. And it’s just a super cool experience, something you dream of as a kid.”
Beekman led Virginia with 15 points, but he made only 4 of 16 shots, and the team’s 25% shooting percentage (14 for 56) mirrored his.
After the dismal first half, the Cavaliers shot 33% in the second, but CSU blistered the nets at 60.1% (14 for 23) in the last 20 minutes.
The No. 10-seeded Rams advance to play No. 7 Texas on Thursday night in Charlotte, N.C.
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