Cavalier Corner is the publication just for UVa sports fans!
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APRIL 2018 13 BY BRAD FRANKLIN W HEN TONY BENNETT took to the podium last fall to talk with me‑ dia members about his 2017‑18 team for the first time, there was something different about it. This wasn't just specific to the team, mind you. Bennett himself seemed to have a glint in his eye and an excitement in his tone that, even with some unknowns to figure out in the coming weeks and months, said plenty about what he thought this team could be down the road. "There's an uncertainty and a newness to this team that I haven't had in a number of years," he said in the preseason. "I think there's some excitement." That excitement was readily apparent with the Wahoos putting together one of the best seasons in school history. After being unranked to start the year and opening up 8‑0, the Cavaliers lost their first game Dec. 5 at West Vir‑ ginia and then rattled off 15 straight wins. By the time a second loss came, UVA was poised to be the No. 1 team in the coun‑ try for the first time since 1982 — a position the team held for the remain‑ der of the regular season and through the confer‑ ence tournament portion of the schedule. Finishing the year 31‑3 — the most wins in school history — made what happened when top‑ seeded UVA faced 16th‑seeded UMBC in the first round of the NCAA Tournament even more surprising. But the Retrievers took advantage of poor shooting and made their own luck, getting stops and scoring with consistency on the way to a historic win that ended UVA's special season in dra‑ matic fashion. UMBC became the first‑ever No. 16 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed in 136 such matchups. "The season, it's not the way I would've chosen obviously how it ended, but as some time has progressed I am starting to appreci‑ ate more and more all that our young men did to accomplish what they did with the regular‑season and conference tournament championships," Bennett said March 26, just 10 days removed from the loss to UMBC. "I love the NCAA Tournament, and I hate the NCAA Tournament. That maybe sums up right now how I'm feeling." UVA had a series of question marks when the season began. For starters, the Wahoos would be without veteran point guard Lon‑ don Perrantes, now playing for the Cleve‑ land Cavaliers in the NBA. They also had to deal with the transfer decisions of Marial Shayok and Darius Thompson, players who as fourth‑years should've been the backbone of a well‑built team. Early on in the year, it was apparent that the Cavaliers had done well to go get graduate transfer Nigel Johnson in the off‑ season. A Virginia native who had previ‑ ously played at Kansas State and Rutgers, Johnson came off the bench and helped the backcourt rotation. He was Bennett's first graduate transfer at UVA. Johnson joined two other fourth‑years on the Virginia roster, team captains Devon Hall and Isaiah Wilkins. They, along with fellow captain Jack Salt, were making the transition from role players to team lead‑ ers who would need to be counted on for much more. The other major contributors going in were expected to be second‑year guards Ty Jerome and Kyle Guy, players who had shown flashes during their rookie seasons. Joined by redshirt second‑year Ma‑ madi Diakite, Jerome and Guy would have to carry a lot for this team, and that was evident from the start. UVA opened with a 12‑point win at home over UNC Greensboro, an eventual NCAA Tournament team, before demolishing Aus‑ tin Peay three days later. That set up an interesting challenge for the Cavaliers in a game at VCU four days thereafter, but UVA controlled it pretty much the entire way. Led by Guy's career‑high 29 points and 13 more from Jerome, the Wahoos forced VCU to turn the ball over 12 times and led 16‑2 in points off turnovers in a nine‑point win. That was a stat that ultimately would be closely tied to Virginia's success all season. When the Cavaliers limited their own turn‑ overs and scored off of those of their oppo‑ nents, it gave them a boost offensively and one that typically had a big impact. The Cavaliers went 20-1 versus ACC com- petition while earning a third outright ACC regular-season title in the last five seasons and their second ACC Tourna- ment title since 2014. In the process, they earned their first No. 1 ranking since 1982 and became only the fourth team since 1990 to earn the top spot in the polls after being unranked in the preseason. PHOTO BY MATT RILEY/COURTESY UVA Tony Bennett was tabbed as the National Coach of the Year by mul- tiple media outlets after leading Virginia to the program's eighth ACC regular-season championship and third ACC Tournament title, and a school-record 31 wins in 2017-18. PHOTO BY MATT RILEY/COURTESY UVA