A Tony Bennett Moment: Hoos Win First ACC Tournament Title Since 1976

Ahead of the ceremony honoring Tony Bennett on February 8th, Virginia Cavaliers On SI is taking a look back at some of UVA basketball's best moments of the Tony Bennett era.

The official return to greatness, backed by hardware against a bitter rival, that’s what this game was for Tony Bennett and his team.

Ever since Tony Bennett’s arrival in Charlottesville in 2009, the team had slowly improved, year-by-year. In 2009, the Cavaliers finished 15-16 before moving into the positive with a 16-15 record in 2010. The year after that the Hoos jumped to a 22-10 record and a fourth placed finish in the ACC. The Hoos also finished 4th in 2013, on the precipice of taking the most competitive basketball conference by storm.

In 2014, Virginia struggled in non-conference to start the season with losses to VCU, Wisconsin, Green Bay, and Tennessee. The losses created worry headed into ACC play, but the doubters would quickly be silenced. The Hoos powered through the ACC, finishing with two ACC regular season losses, both on the road, as the Cavaliers finished first with a 13-2 record.

The star of the show was Malcolm Brogdon, who in his third year in Charlottesville, led the team in points and scored in double-digits in every game of ACC play. The Atlanta, Georgia, native also showed the lights were not too bright for him in the regular season with a game-winning three against Pittsburgh in February. If Bennett wanted his team to claim its first ACC tournament championship since 1976, he’d need Brogdon to be at his best.

The other aspect of this team that Bennett would need to be at its sharpest was the Pack Line Defense, the system he instilled into the lifeblood of Virginia basketball, a defense that, at its best, was unstoppable.

With the number one seed in hand the Cavaliers would have to dispatch three teams to cut the nets down in Greensboro, North Carolina. The Hoos went to work, steamrolling Florida State before squeaking past Pittsburgh 51-48 behind a strong defensive performance.

All that was left to do was knock off the Duke Blue Devils, wwho had defeated Virginia 69-65 in the regular season. This time, though, the Cavaliers had other plans.

Under the guidance of Tony Bennett, the Hoos came out rampant, with a 9-2 run to start the game with Brogdon scoring five of those. Defensively, the Hoos infuriated Duke freshman Jabari Parker who only made one of his first eight shots.

Despite the strong start, the Blue Devils slowly crept back into the game, which included two threes at the end of the half to make it 28-25 headed into the break.

Despite what would appear to be a close game, the Hoos remained poised throughout the entire game, a staple of what Bennett had instilled into his team. Whenever Duke would appear to make a run, or attempt to cut the Virginia lead, the Cavs buckled down defensively before making it rain on the offensive end.

Alongside Brogdon, the other star of the show was sharpshooter Joe Harris, who finished with 15 points on the night to Brogdon’s 23, a career high.

Then, midway through the second half, Parker went nuclear, slamming down a dunk on a drive before drilling a three and adding another bucket to give the Blue Devils a 47-46 lead. In response, the Hoos ignited a 13-4 run to make it 59-53 with 3:53 remaining as the Virginia defense sucked the life out of the Blue Devils.

With one last push the Blue Devils fired back with four straight points before Akil Mitchell scored to push the lead back to four. At that moment, Duke was in the game as Jabari Parker looked to bring his team back, but the Hoos had other plans as Anthony Gill stole the ball from Parker before Harris drilled a dagger three, sinking the hearts in Durham while pumping up the loud contingent of UVA fans at Greensboro Coliseum.

The three made it 64-57 with two minutes remaining before Virginia sealed the deal with a 72-63 victory over Duke, giving the team from Charlottesville their second ever ACC tournament trophy.

A mark of Tony Bennett, the Cavs finished with five blocks and frustrated the Blue Devils as they only shot 38% from the field.

After the win, Bennett finished the job at the net, cutting the remains and waving it around as he looked onto the Virginia crowd that roared its approval.

The win is best represented by the pillar of passion: do not be lukewarm. Bennett’s passion for his craft and dedication to his team pushed them to be at their very best when it mattered most. To add, Bennett earned ACC Coach of the Year in 2014, he would go on to win the award three more times.

Other stories in our series on Tony Bennett's best moments at Virginia

A Tony Bennett Moment: Grant Kersey Makes Basketball Fun Again

A Tony Bennett Moment: Beekman Takes Down Duke at the Buzzer in Cameron

A Tony Bennett Moment: Virginia Wills Itself Past Gardner-Webb

A Tony Bennett Moment: Reece Beekman's Buzzer Beater vs Syracuse

A Tony Bennett Moment: Virginia Captures the Main Event Title in Las Vegas