Virginia Cavaliers
Atlantic Coast Conference (22-9, 9-7)
Not since half a dozen years ago during the reign of Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds have the Virginia Cavaliers been this prominent in the ACC picture. This year’s team, albeit considerably less fun to watch, has made waves in a conference whose top tier had been out of reach for UVA for some time now. In his third year at the helm, Head Coach Tony Bennett has finally gotten some results thanks to his strategy and thanks to a healthy senior star, Mike Scott. Much like Atlantic Coast Conference peer Florida State, Virginia has won this year with defense: not a bad game plan for a team with less talent than its competitors.
Big Wins: 11/29 Michigan (70-58), 1/7 Miami FL (52-51), 1/28 at NC State (61-60)
Bad Losses: 11/18 vs TCU (55-57), 1/22 Virginia Tech (45-47), 2/14 at Clemson (48-60)
Coach: Tony Bennett (3 seasons at Virginia)
Why They Can Surprise:
The Cavaliers held their opponent under 60 points each of the first 10 games of the season. They allowed Seattle to score 77 but still won the game. Following that, they went 12 more consecutive matches holding foes to 61 or fewer points in each contest. This is a ridiculously good defensive team who can slow down pace and control momentum so well, they do not even need to score much more than 60 per game themselves to win. However, the injury and suspension of Assane Sene has hurt the defense a little bit, but UVA has played long enough without him. On the offensive side of the ball, Tony Bennett rotates a lot of guys and gets contributions from a lot of seniors. But mainly the plan is to get the ball to Mike Scott. Scott is the team’s leading scorer and rebounder; he shoots well from the foul line and epically from the floor, making him one of the most efficient go-to scorers in the conference. Last year, much of his season was taken away because of an injury but 2011-2012 has been redemption for the senior.
Why They Can Disappoint:
As good as Mike Scott is, he is not Ralph Sampson; and UVA has very little else in the way of reliable offense. Although they do not expect many points from their offense anyways, and have been winning all year scoring well under 70 each time out, teams do not routinely advance in the postseason on the back of one scorer if he is not historically good. In addition, for as good as Virginia has been on the defensive end this year, they are not exceptionally good at blocking shots. In fact, there is not a single Cavaliers player who averages even one block per game. The Virginia Tech game back in January was a perfect example of what can go wrong for UVA at any time. They were playing at home, yet Mike Scott did not have a dominating game. With no one else to turn to, UVA did not share the ball well, couldn’t adjust the Hokies’ shots (finishing with a putrid one block) and fell to a below average club, in John Paul Jones Arena. People can point to that as a rivalry game as some sort of excuse but in Virginia’s lone non-conference loss this year, a similar story unfolded. Mike Scott was not dominant and although TCU turned the ball over, the Cavaliers could not change many shots on the interior (again ending with a lone block) and an inferior team came out on top.
Probable Starters:
Joe Harris, Sophomore, Guard, 11.5 ppg, 1.8 apg
Jontel Evans, Junior, Guard, 7.3 ppg, 3.8 apg
Sammy Zeglinski, Senior, Guard, 8.7 ppg, 2.6 apg
Mike Scott, Senior, Forward, 18.1 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 1.2 apg
Akil Mitchell, Sophomore, Forward, 4.1 ppg, 4.4 rpg
Key Roleplayers:
Darion Atkins, Freshman, Forward, 2.3 ppg, 2.4 rpg
Paul Jesperson, Freshman, Guard, 1.4 ppg
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 63.0 (272nd in nation, 10th in conference)
Scoring Defense: 53.2 (2, 1)
Field-Goal Percentage: 46.1 (68, 4)
Field-Goal Defense: 39.1 (20, 3)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 5.0 (280, 12)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 34.2 (170, 7)
Free-Throw Percentage: 72.2 (70, 3)
Rebound Margin: 3.1 (75, 5)
Assists Per Game: 12.4 (209, 5)
Turnovers Per Game: 11.4 (27, 1)
Last Five Postseason Appearances:
Virginia 2008 CBI First Round win over Richmond
Virginia 2008 CBI Second Round win over Old Dominion
Virginia 2008 CBI Semifinal loss to Bradley
Virginia 2007 NCAA Round of 64 win over Albany
Virginia 2007 NCAA Round of 32 loss Tennessee
Virginia 2006 NIT First Round loss to Stanford
Virginia 2004 NIT First Round win over George Washington
Virginia 2004 NIT Second Round loss to Villanova
Virginia 2003 NIT First Round win over Brown
Virginia 2003 NIT Second Round loss to St. Johns
*all team stats through 3/4
See All Men’s Basketball Postseason Capsules
