Tag: Tony Bennett

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Current men’s basketball team echoes past successes

Wally Walker was the leading man for the ’76 Cavaliers, taking home MVP honors at the ACC tournament and leading the Hoos with 21 points in the championship game. Courtesy photo

Four minutes to play and the game was tied at 60. A sea of orange yelled from the sidelines as the time continued to whittle down. Three and a half minutes gone—still 60.

Two free throws at the 34-second mark and suddenly they’re up by two.

Up by two? The sixth seed? The team that went 15-11?

It was 1976, and the Virginia Cavaliers were about to beat No. 1 seed North Carolina for their first ACC championship, after upsetting No. 3 North Carolina State and No. 2 Maryland.

“We were 0-6 against those teams,” then-head coach Terry Holland said when he was honored at John Paul Jones Arena September 23, on the 40th anniversary of that win, “but with every one of those teams we had a game that went down to the wire. …We knew we could play with them.”

Wally Walker was the leading man for the ’76
Cavaliers, taking home MVP honors at the tournament and leading the Hoos with 21 points in the championship game.

“Just to see them,” Walker says, smiling as he recalls Virginia’s fans. “I mean tears, and people weeping.”

Walker laughs. “But I mean, we were too.”

That second ACC championship would evade Virginia for Holland’s next 14 years. In fact, it would be almost four decades before Tony Bennett’s 2014 dream team would recapture the title.

But 1981 was also a standout year as UVA went undefeated at home. It was the year Holland took his team to the program’s first Final Four.

And it was the year of Ralph Sampson.

Sampson, the 7’4” center for Virginia and three-time College Player of the Year, was untouchable. The Cavaliers went 27-2 that regular season, falling only to North Carolina and Maryland.

No one knew that in 33 years Bennett’s squad would begin duplicating the 1981 team’s accomplishments, logging back-to-back 30-win seasons in 2014 and 2015, and enjoying an undefeated season at home in 2016.

Asked how the two teams compare, Sampson’s answer is quick: “We would have killed them.”

He laughs. “It also starts with the coach, and I think that the coach that they have here in Tony Bennett is phenomenal. They should keep him here forever if they can.”

Take a step back to Virginia’s second Final Four appearance in 1984. The miracle run. The year that Holland’s team went 21-12 in the regular season and wound up losing to Houston in overtime in the Final Four.

For players such as Rick Carlisle, some moments remain painted vividly in memory, like the team’s overtime win against Arkansas that pushed them into the Sweet 16.

“It was a play designed for Othell Wilson,” Carlisle remembers of the final shot. “He went up for the shot and Albert Robinson…got a piece of the shot. It deflected into my hands, and I just grabbed it and let it go, and it went in.”

Moments like these don’t just happen. Standout years like 1976, 1981 and 1984 were the hard work of a coach and a lot of good players—and many will tell you they see aspects of Holland in Bennett.

“He played for his dad, so I got to see his dad coach,” Holland says of Bennett, “and I think they play a lot like we did. I think he’s taken the stuff that his dad did and added on to it and made good use of the caliber that he has on hand.”

Carlisle goes further, saying the coaches share humility, unselfishness and toughness; he believes Holland set the stage for Bennett.

“Without Terry Holland, there wouldn’t be a Tony Bennett.”

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Syracuse stuns Cavaliers in Elite Eight upset

Fans gather at the airport in the wee hours Monday to welcome the Cavs and Coach Tony Bennett back from a weekend in Chicago that had the highs of winning the Sweet 16 over Iowa State and the lows of losing to Syracuse in the Elite Eight. Photo Matt Riley

In an unlikely second-half comeback, the Syracuse Orange took down top-seed Virginia 68-62 in the Elite Eight Sunday, ending the Cavaliers’ postseason play. Of Bennett’s four tournament appearances with Virginia, this year’s Elite Eight was the deepest postseason run the team has made.

“We will have some tough nights because you’re so close you could taste it,” said Coach Tony Bennett in a post-game press conference, “but absolutely joy will come in the morning for what these guys have established for Virginia basketball.”

For third-year student Max Ober, who attends every home game he can, the team’s exit was a mixed bag of emotions.

“We made it farther this year than the past two, but it’s disappointing to lose to a team that we know we can beat,” Ober says, referring to the Cavaliers’ 73-65 win over Syracuse in the regular season.

In their Elite Eight rematch, the Cavs built up a 14-point lead at halftime and appeared to have firm control over 10th-seeded opponent Syracuse. For the majority of the second half Virginia maintained the lead, but a three-pointer by Syracuse’s Malachi Richardson at the seven-minute mark began a 15-0 run that left the Hoos trailing 64-58 with three minutes to play.

With seniors Anthony Gill and Malcolm Brogdon both scoring below their averages, making only 10 and 12 points, respectively, the Cavaliers struggled to keep up their offense in the second half. Committing a tournament-high 13 turnovers only fueled Syracuse’s fire, directly leading to 15 of Syracuse’s points.

“I was calm for a while until I realized our defense was not getting stops,” Ober recalls of the last 10 minutes, “and the offense was being pushed off their rhythm by the press. Everything started to lean in favor of Syracuse.”

Despite Virginia’s disappointing tournament exit, Bennett’s Cavaliers have given UVA arguably three of its best seasons, recording 89 wins to surpass 1981-1983’s 88 wins. In 2014, the Cavs finished first in the ACC for the first time since 1981 and also won the ACC tournament for the first time since 1976. They received a No.1 seed in the NCAA tournament and reached the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1995’s Elite Eight run.

The 2015 Cavaliers clinched the ACC regular-season title for the second year in a row and earned a 2-seed in the NCAA.

This year’s 2016 season brought a new slew of “firsts” for Bennett’s team, with Malcolm Brogdon being the first player to earn both ACC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, with the Cavaliers going undefeated at home for the first time since 1982 and, of course, with the Cavalier’s first appearance in the Elite Eight since 1995.

As the season ends, seniors Malcolm Brogdon, Anthony Gill, Mike Tobey, Evan Nolte, and Caid Kirven will graduate with 112 career wins, matching the school record set by the senior class of 1983. Despite their undeniable legacy, Ober worries about what the future will look like for the Cavaliers.

“I thought this was the year for UVA,” Ober says. “They are losing key seniors, the go-to scorers. Luckily Coach Bennett has been building a program of depth, so there are players to step up, but they will have to take on new roles. Without Malcolm, I wonder who will be the go-to scorer.”

 

 

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Bennett’s Cavaliers make Elite Eight for first time since 1995

Coach Tony Bennett takes his Cavs to Elite Eight. Photo: Jack Looney

With a commanding win over No. 4-seed Iowa State, head Coach Tony Bennett and the Virginia Cavaliers will advance to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1995. This marks the furthest postseason appearance during Bennett’s era at UVA.

An 84-71 win propelled the Cavaliers past the Cyclones on Friday’s game, with senior Anthony Gill scoring 23 points to lead the team to victory. The team was unable to control Iowa State leading scorer Georges Niang, who came away with 30 points and 8 rebounds, but key contributions from seniors Mike Tobey and Malcolm Brogdon helped seal Virginia’s success, putting up 18 and 12 points respectively.

In Virginia’s past two NCAA appearances, Bennett led the Cavaliers to one Sweet 16 and one second round exit, both years falling to Tom Izzo and the Michigan State Spartans.  But with the Spartans knocked off early this year by 15-seed Middle Tennessee, Virginia will take on No. 10-seed ACC opponent Syracuse in the Elite Eight.

Second-year student Alex Andrews, who watches the Cavaliers religiously, says that Virginia’s impressive Sweet 16 win over Iowa State is a promising sign for a team that has struggled with postseason play in the past.

“It was really encouraging to see such a dominant start to the game, as well as a strong finish,” Andrews says. “There’s something special about these Hoos.”

Virginia was the third No. 1 seed to advance to the Elite Eight, following Oregon and Kansas, and was joined later that night by final 1-seed North Carolina. Of all four top seeds in the Elite Eight, the Cavaliers are up against the lowest-ranked team, with North Carolina up against 6th-seeded Notre Dame. Oregon and Kansas were both felled by 2-seeds Oklahoma and Villanova, respectively, on Saturday.

In addition to the advantage the Cavaliers gain from playing a lower-ranked team, Virginia also squared off against Syracuse earlier this season, beating them in conference play by a score of 73-65. While upsets are not uncommon in March Madness, Andrews feels confident in Bennett’s team going forward in the tournament.

“I have a lot of faith in this Virginia team. They have the most dominant defense in all of basketball, and score enough to take down even the strongest of offenses. I like their chances,” Andrews says.

Should the Cavaliers defeat Syracuse this weekend, they’ll stay on familiar ground, taking on either ACC foe North Carolina or Notre Dame in the Final Four. While Bennett’s team won both of their regular season matches against Notre Dame and North Carolina, Virginia fell to UNC in the championship game of the ACC tournament, leaving a difficult road ahead for the Cavs.

The Cavaliers remain at the United Center in Chicago for the Elite Eight, where they will tip off against the Syracuse Orange at 6:09pm tonight.

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Cavaliers head to the Windy City for Sweet 16 showdown

UVA Coach Tony Bennett has recovered from his collapse during the Hampton game on St. Patrick's Day. Photo Cara Salpini

With a second round win against No. 9-seed Butler, Tony Bennett’s Cavaliers will head to Chicago this weekend to take on No. 4-seed Iowa State in the Sweet 16. They join fellow ACC opponents Syracuse, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Duke and Miami in the round, a record for the most teams from any conference still competing for the national championship title.

This will mark the second time in three years the Cavs have reached the Sweet 16, the furthest the Hoos have gone in NCAA tournament play under Bennett’s tenure.

After cinching a No. 1 seed in the Midwest region, UVA downed 16-seed Hampton 81-45 in the first round of tournament play March 17 to advance to a second-round matchup with the Butler Bulldogs March 19.

In a much closer contest with Butler, the Cavaliers pulled away to win 77-69, led by seniors Malcolm Brogdon and Anthony Gill, who grabbed 22 and 19 points respectively. Despite Virginia’s stars, the team had key points from off the bench as well, with Mike Tobey and Marial Shayok contributing 10 and 12 points each.

In a pre-Sweet 16 press conference, Bennett said both Shayok and Devon Hall gave the team “good stretches of basketball” post-season, and that Shayok “always tries hard defensively,” Bennett said. “And we needed all of that.”

He also addressed the threat of Iowa State’s Georges Niang, who averages 20.2 points per game, and how the Cavaliers will address the difficulties that the Cyclones pose.

“I think you have to try to make them earn [their baskets],” Bennett says. “They have other guys who are very talented, who shoot 40 or above from the three-point line with good spacing, they score in transition, they score posting up inside out. I think you’re going to have to probably have a lot of guys trying to guard [Niang]. He’s that good.”

Should the Cavaliers advance to the Elite Eight, they will face either 11-seed Gonzaga or 10-seed ACC rival Syracuse. The Cavaliers and the Cyclones tip off at the United Center in Chicago at 7:10pm Friday.

Watch a clip of the press conference here:

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Virginia clinches No. 1 seed in NCAA Tournament

Seniors Anthony Gill and Malcolm Brogdon flank Coach Tony Bennett in Monday's press conference. No. 1 seed UVA plays No. 16 seed Hampton on Thursday.

Despite falling to North Carolina in the ACC Tournament finale Saturday, Virginia earned the No. 1 seed in the Midwest region in the NCAA Tournament over Big Ten Tournament champion Michigan State, marking the second time in three years that Tony Bennett’s Cavaliers have snagged a top seed in the NCAA tourney.

The team boasts a 26-7 record and is ranked third nationally in scoring defense, holding its opponents to only 59.7 points per game. Led by fifth-year senior Malcolm Brogdon, who was named an unprecedented ACC Player of the Year and ACC Defensive Player of the Year, the Cavaliers have a strong senior class in Brogdon, Anthony Gill, Mike Tobey and Evan Nolte—all of whom will be looking for their first national championship title this year.

Joining Virginia at the top of the bracket are fellow No. 1 seeds Kansas, North Carolina and Oregon. But the other top seeds aren’t Virginia’s only competition. For the third year in a row, Michigan State (29-5) has been placed in the same region as Virginia, raising Cavalier fans’ concerns about another early tournament exit.

In 2014, the fourth-seeded Spartans took down No. 1 seed Virginia in the Sweet 16 with a nail-biting 61-59 win.

The next year boded even worse for the Hoos, with Michigan State knocking Virginia out in the second round of the tournament. A rematch will occur this year if both teams make it to the Elite Eight.

At a pre-NCAA tournament press conference Monday, Brogdon emphasized that Michigan State was not yet on the team’s mind.

“It’s important for us to take this one game at a time and not worry about the past, and not get too far ahead of ourselves and worry about Michigan State or other teams, just take it one game at a time and worry about Hampton and do the best we can,” Brogdon says.

Although Coach Tony Bennett says a good performance in the NCAA would be a “terrific way” to end the season, he just wants the team to play hard.

“We’re gonna lay it on the line and play to the utmost of our abilities and as hard as we can,” Bennett says. “I have confidence in these guys. I think they’ve paid the price and worked hard, but everybody at this stage has—all the teams you play have.”

Virginia’s first game will be against No. 16 seed Hampton in the first round of the tournament at 3:10pm Thursday  in Raleigh, North Carolina.