Virginia Cavaliers
ACC (22-10, 11-7)
Virginia was the last team to fall victim to Syracuse’s amazing run in the 2016 NCAA Tournament. The Cavaliers cruised past Hampton, Butler and Iowa State before falling 68-62 to the Orange with a trip to the Final Four on the line. Coach Tony Bennett has built a program that can continuously make deep tournament runs and this year should be no different.
Big Wins: 12/28 at Louisville (61-53), 1/24 at Notre Dame (71-54), 2/27 North Carolina (53-43)
Bad Losses: 1/4 at Pittsburgh (76-88), 2/4 at Syracuse (62-66), 2/20 Miami FL (48-54)
Coach: Tony Bennett
Why They Can Surprise:
Virginia will always be in games due to their stellar defense. The Cavaliers allow a mere 54.9 points per game, which is the best in the nation. This is a team that will slow things down to a crawl and they have thrived in that system. The Cavaliers do not allow the opposition to get any easy shots. And they make the most of their possessions by not turning the ball over and making the opposition work hard defensively on every possession. That usually results in a smart shot by UVA and they have the players who can knock down those shots. London Perrantes is the team’s only double digit scorer and will take most of the big shots for this team. However, Marial Shayok, Devon Hall, Isiah Wilkins, Kyle Guy and Darius Thompson are all capable of having quality scoring outputs.
Why They Can Disappoint:
The key to beating Virginia is to get them to hurry on offense. That is not easy to do with Perrantes running the point. He dished out 3.8 assists per game and is a huge reason why Virginia rarely turns the ball over. But if the team does start pressing and forcing passes and forcing shots, they are beatable. There is a lot of depth and talent on this team, but they cannot score quickly. Fortunately, it is very rare for Virginia to need to come from behind.
Probable Starters:
London Perrantes, Senior, Guard, 12.5 ppg, 3.8 apg
Devon Hall, Junior, Guard, 8.7 ppg, 1.9 apg, 4.4 rpg
Marial Shayok, Junior, Guard, 8.6 ppg, 1.0 apg
Isaiah Wilkins, Junior, Forward, 7.0 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.3 bpg
Jack Salt, Sophomore, Center, 3.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg
Key Role Players:
Kyle Guy, Freshman, Guard, 7.8 ppg, 1.4 apg
Darius Thompson, Junior, Guard, 6.1 ppg, 2.2 apg
Jarred Reuter, Sophomore, Forward, 3.8 ppg, 2.2 rpg
Mamadi Diakite, Freshman, Forward, 3.7 ppg, 2.5 rpg
Ty Jerome, Freshman, Guard, 4.4 ppg, 1.5 apg
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 66.6 (308th in nation, 15th in conference)
Scoring Defense: 54.9 (1, 1)
Field-Goal Percentage: 46.6 (68, 7)
Field-Goal Defense: 39.1 (11, 1)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 6.9 (222, 13)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 38.9 (29, 2)
Free-Throw Percentage: 70.6 (160, 9)
Rebound Margin: 3.5 (75, 5)
Assists Per Game: 14.3 (128, 11)
Turnovers Per Game: 9.6 (2, 1)
Recent Postseason Appearances:
2016 NCAA Round of 64 win over Hampton
2016 NCAA Round of 32 win over Butler
2016 NCAA Regional Semifinal win over Iowa State
2016 NCAA Regional Final loss to Syracuse
2015 NCAA Round of 64 win over Belmont
2015 NCAA Round of 32 loss to Michigan State
2014 NCAA Round of 64 win over Coastal Carolina
2014 NCAA Round of 32 win over Memphis
2014 NCAA Regional Semifinal loss to Michigan State
2013 NIT First Round win over Norfolk State
2013 NIT Second Round win over St. John's
2013 NIT Quarterfinal loss to Iowa
2012 NCAA Round of 64 loss to Florida
2008 CBI First Round win over Richmond
2008 CBI Second Round win over Old Dominion
2008 CBI Semifinal loss to Bradley
2007 NCAA Round of 64 win over Albany
2007 NCAA Round of 32 loss Tennessee
2006 NIT First Round loss to Stanford
2004 NIT First Round win over George Washington
2004 NIT Second Round loss to Villanova
2003 NIT First Round win over Brown
2003 NIT Second Round loss to St. Johns
*all team stats through 3/5
