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| Virginia basketball keeps sights on Louisville rather than ACC standings | Virginia basketball keeps sights on Louisville rather than ACC standings |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Virginia writes four letters on a whiteboard before every game: I.S.A.W. It stands for “In such a way,” a phrase lifted from one of Tony Bennett’s favorite Bible verses, 1 Corinthians 9:24: “Do you not know that in a race all runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” | |
| Bennett brought up the whiteboard mantra last Saturday, after his Cavaliers had beaten North Carolina in what he thought was their biggest challenge of the year. The prize — their third consecutive ACC regular season title, along with the No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament — remained in sight. | Bennett brought up the whiteboard mantra last Saturday, after his Cavaliers had beaten North Carolina in what he thought was their biggest challenge of the year. The prize — their third consecutive ACC regular season title, along with the No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament — remained in sight. |
| “You have to run in such a way as to win,” Bennett said. “What I told them before the win is you better take care of the ball, in such a way. You better get back on transition, in such a way as to win. You better defensive rebound, in such a way.” | “You have to run in such a way as to win,” Bennett said. “What I told them before the win is you better take care of the ball, in such a way. You better get back on transition, in such a way as to win. You better defensive rebound, in such a way.” |
| [Mason Madness: Inside the most unlikely run in NCAA tournament history] | [Mason Madness: Inside the most unlikely run in NCAA tournament history] |
| Now, after Tuesday’s win at Clemson, the No. 4 Cavaliers (23-6, 12-5 ACC) are ensured one of the four top seeds and a double-bye in next week’s conference tournament at Verizon Center. But the Cavaliers, a game behind No. 7 Miami and No. 8 North Carolina in the league standings, require help in Saturday’s regular season finales to gain a share of the league title and the top seed in its tournament. In addition to a win over No. 11 Louisville (23-7, 12-5), Virginia needs six-point underdog Virginia Tech to beat the visiting Hurricanes in Blacksburg and No. 17 Duke to beat its archrival Tar Heels. | |
| [Two Louisville players have turned postseason ban into audition for pros] | [Two Louisville players have turned postseason ban into audition for pros] |
| That’s a few too many unknowns for fifth-year senior Malcolm Brogdon. Brogdon, the top candidate for ACC player of the year, simply wants a victory in his last contest at John Paul Jones Arena, one he could share with four senior classmates, Anthony Gill, Mike Tobey, Evan Nolte and Caid Kirven. | |
| “We want it a lot. That’s our next milestone that we want to get to,” Brogdon said of the ACC regular season title. “But at the same time, we’re going to control what we can control, and that’s win out this season. That’s what we want to do; we want to beat Louisville to end the season.” | “We want it a lot. That’s our next milestone that we want to get to,” Brogdon said of the ACC regular season title. “But at the same time, we’re going to control what we can control, and that’s win out this season. That’s what we want to do; we want to beat Louisville to end the season.” |
| [Will the real Duke stand up before the NCAA tournament?]] | [Will the real Duke stand up before the NCAA tournament?]] |
| This senior class already has plenty of accolades. This is Virginia’s fourth consecutive season of at least 23 wins and its third in a row with at least 12 conference wins. That hasn’t happened at Virginia since Hall of Famer Ralph Sampson last donned a Cavaliers uniform in 1983 (when ACC teams played 14 conference games instead of 18). Those Sampson teams also were the last at Virginia to claim at least part of three consecutive ACC regular season titles. | |
| But like Brogdon, Bennett holds a win against Louisville over all else at this point. The Cavaliers dominated, 63-47, in the teams’ last meeting Jan. 30, shooting 57.8 percent (26 for 45) from the field and holding Louisville to 32.7 percent in its worst loss at KFC Yum! Center | |
| This time, Bennett wants his charges to block out the emotion of senior night — as well as those of a motivated Cardinals team playing its final game of the season because of a postseason ban. | This time, Bennett wants his charges to block out the emotion of senior night — as well as those of a motivated Cardinals team playing its final game of the season because of a postseason ban. |
| “The joy and the celebration for me, and I believe for our guys, is in playing well,” Bennett said Tuesday after the Clemson game. “If you ask any player or any good team, that’s the joy, when you can play well in different settings. | “The joy and the celebration for me, and I believe for our guys, is in playing well,” Bennett said Tuesday after the Clemson game. “If you ask any player or any good team, that’s the joy, when you can play well in different settings. |
| “The accomplishments, the things that you get, that’s nice, okay. Maybe that’s something you look back on. But we talk a lot about being ready, I guess just learning from the success. I said last year we lived off our success; this year we lost some tough ones. They haven’t made excuses. They haven’t whined. They just showed up and played and realized it’s worth the fight.” |