Season in Review

Virginia
16-15 (7-9 ACC)

It's easy to be pessimistic about the UVA basketball team, given the recent lack of success and the fact that they only finished one game above .500 this year.  I would argue that things are definitely looking up in Charlottesville, with a coach who knows what he's doing, and a strong finish to the season.

The first half of the season was pretty polarizing.  UVA had some games where they really played well, including back-to-back road wins at Minnesota and Virginia Tech.  They also lost by 43 points to Washington, and lost back-to-back home games to Seattle and Iowa State.  Part of the problem was the fact that their best player, Mike Scott, was hurt.  Scott only played 10 games.

The start to conference play wasn't promising.  UVA started out 3-8, with some close tough losses.  Once the team started to gel with its younger players, they started playing better, winning 4 of the last 5 ACC games, including two road wins.

The thing about playing UVA is you know that they are going to play strong defense.  Tony Bennett's teams can really shut you down and make you look bad on offense.  The games can look ugly, but they are effective (see the 49-47 win over Clemson as an example).  If Virginia makes their 3 pointers, they are tough to beat.  Once Scott got hurt, it became a leader by committee.  It really wasn't one guy producing all the scoring for the team.  Mustapha Farrakhan had his best year by far, but when he wasn't scoring someone like Joe Harris or K.T. Harrell would pick up the slack.

Biggest Win:
87-79 at Minnesota on 11/29

This was definitely a surprising win for UVA over a Minnesota team that at the time was ranked 15 in the nation.  The Cavaliers used a very strong second half performance and a double-double from Scott to earn a relatively easy win.  This, coupled with their road win against Virginia Tech in their next game, was their best stretch of the season.

Worst Loss:
59-53 vs. Seattle on 12/22

If the two game stretch in November was the best UVA played this year, the late part of December was the worst.  After scratching out a last second win over Norfolk State, UVA lost this game to an independent Seattle team that went 11-20 this year.  Seattle's only other game against an ACC team was a 29 point loss to Maryland.

Postseason Play:

The postseason was about as crushing as one team could go through.  UVA was in control of their first round ACC Tournament game against Miami, up by 10 points in the last 40 seconds.  Then in a comedy of errors fashion they blew the lead away, losing in overtime.  It was an abrupt and shocking end to the season.

Looking Ahead:

The big news in the off-season is the fact that Scott was granted a medical redshirt and will be able to play next year.  When he played, Scott averaged a double-double and is easily the team's best player.  Beyond him, they have a solid group of young players, led by Harris and point guard Jontell Evans.  The team loses Farrakhan and Will Sherrill, but returns a good group of players that seem to have bought into Coach Bennett's system.