2018–19 Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team represented the University of Virginia during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Tony Bennett in his tenth year, and played their home games at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

2018–19 Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball
NCAA tournament National Champions
ACC regular season co-champions
Battle 4 Atlantis champions
ConferenceAtlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 1
APNo. 2
Record35–3 (16–2 ACC)
Head coach
Associate head coachJason Williford (10th season)
Assistant coaches
Offensive schemeBlocker-Mover
Base defensePack-Line
Captains
Home arenaJohn Paul Jones Arena
Seasons
2018–19 ACC men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 2 Virginia 16 2   .889 35 3   .921
No. 3 North Carolina 16 2   .889 29 7   .806
No. 1 Duke 14 4   .778 32 6   .842
No. 10 Florida State 13 5   .722 29 8   .784
No. 16 Virginia Tech 12 6   .667 26 9   .743
Syracuse 10 8   .556 20 14   .588
Louisville 10 8   .556 20 14   .588
NC State 9 9   .500 24 12   .667
Clemson 9 9   .500 20 14   .588
Georgia Tech 6 12   .333 14 18   .438
Boston College 5 13   .278 14 17   .452
Miami (FL) 5 13   .278 14 18   .438
Wake Forest 4 14   .222 11 20   .355
Pittsburgh 3 15   .167 14 19   .424
Notre Dame 3 15   .167 14 19   .424
2019 ACC tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

UVA opened the season with consecutive wins over ranked Big Ten teams, No. 25 Wisconsin (Battle 4 Atlantis) and No. 24 Maryland (ACC–Big Ten Challenge), the latter of which improved Bennett's record in the Challenge to 8–2. An unheralded two-star recruit, 5'9" Kihei Clark from Los Angeles, California, started both games as a true freshman. The team then started the season 16–0 before falling to No. 1 Duke, 72–70.[1] The game was just the fourth in college basketball history between two teams both ranked No. 1, as the No. 4 Cavaliers were voted atop the Coaches Poll before the loss.[1] After a 16–2 ACC record, Virginia won a share of their fourth ACC regular season title in the past six years.[2]

In the ACC tournament, the Cavaliers defeated NC State 76–56, before falling to Florida State in the conference semifinals. Virginia was then awarded the No. 1 seed in the South region and dispatched Gardner-Webb and Oklahoma by healthy margins in the first two rounds in Columbia, South Carolina. They advanced to a Sweet 16 matchup with Oregon and beat Oregon 53–49 to advance to their 2nd Elite 8 under Bennett. In the Elite Eight, they beat Purdue 80–75 in overtime to secure a trip to their first Final Four since 1984. On April 6, 2019, they defeated Auburn in their Final Four matchup by a score of 63–62 on 3 last-second free throws by Kyle Guy, cementing the program's first ever trip to the national championship game.[3] On April 8, 2019, Virginia beat Texas Tech 85–77 in overtime, winning its first national championship.

Previous season

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Unranked by the AP in the preseason poll, the Cavaliers surprisingly finished the 2017–18 season 31–3, and 17–1 in ACC play to win both ACC Regular Season and tournament titles. The Cavaliers received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 seed in the South region, where they were upset by No. 16 UMBC in the first round. This was the first time in Men's NCAA tournament history that a No. 1 seed was upset by a No. 16 seed.

Offseason

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Virginia's offseason started on the night of March 16, 2018, and ended on the evening of November 6, 2018.

The Cavaliers lost five players and gained four.

Departures

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Virginia Departures
Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for Departure
Devon Hall 0 G 6'5" 211   Senior Virginia Beach, VA Graduated/2018 NBA draft
Justice Bartley 2 G 6'5" 212 Junior Lilburn, GA Transferred to Maryland Eastern Shore
Trevon Gross Jr. 10 G 6'3" 200 Junior Jackson, NJ Transferred to Monmouth
Isaiah Wilkins 21 F 6'7" 227 Senior Atlanta, GA Graduated
Nigel Johnson 23 G 6'1" 182   Senior Ashburn, VA Graduated

Incoming transfers

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Virginia Incoming Transfers
Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School Years Remaining Date Eligible
Braxton Key 2 F 6'8" 225 Junior Decatur, GA Alabama 2 October 1, 2018

2018 recruiting class

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US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Kody Stattmann
SG
Cairns, Queensland, Australia St. Augustine's College 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) N/A Aug 28, 2017 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:     ESPNN/A   ESPN grade: NR
Kihei Clark
PG
Woodland Hills, CA Taft High School 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) N/A Oct 2, 2017 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:     ESPN:    ESPN grade: 75
Francisco Cáffaro
C
El Trébol, Argentina NBA Global Academy 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) N/A May 1, 2018 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:     ESPNN/A   ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:   247Sports: 65
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "Virginia 2018 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  • "2018 Virginia Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  • "2018 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  • "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  • "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  • "Virginia 2018 Basketball Commitments". 247sports.com. Retrieved August 24, 2018.

Roster

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Players

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2018–19 Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 0 Kihei Clark 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 155 lb (70 kg) Fr Taft Charter HS Woodland Hills, California  
F 1 Francesco Badocchi 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 185 lb (84 kg) RS Fr Bishop Miege HS Milan, Italy  
F 2 Braxton Key 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr Oak Hill Academy
Alabama
Decatur, Georgia  
G 5 Kyle Guy (C) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Lawrence Central HS Indianapolis, Indiana  
G 10 Jayden Nixon (W) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Choate Rosemary Hall Charlottesville, Virginia  
G 11 Ty Jerome (C) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Iona Prep New Rochelle, New York  
F 12 De'Andre Hunter 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 222 lb (101 kg) RS So Friends' Central School Philadelphia, Pennsylvania  
G 13 Grant Kersey (W) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Jr Albemarle HS Charlottesville, Virginia  
C 22 Francisco Cáffaro   7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 233 lb (106 kg) Fr NBA Global Academy El Trébol Santa Fe, Argentina  
G 23 Kody Stattmann 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 178 lb (81 kg) Fr St. Augustine's College Bentley Park, Australia  
G 24 Marco Anthony 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 228 lb (103 kg) So Holmes HS San Antonio, Texas  
F 25 Mamadi Diakite 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 228 lb (103 kg) RS Jr Blue Ridge School Conakry, Guinea  
F 30 Jay Huff 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 230 lb (104 kg) RS So Voyager Academy Durham, North Carolina  
C 33 Jack Salt (C) 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 250 lb (113 kg) RS Sr Westlake Boys HS Auckland, New Zealand  
F 45 Austin Katstra (W) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 214 lb (97 kg) So Albemarle HS Charlottesville, Virginia  
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Coaching staff

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Virginia Coaching Staff
Name Position Year with Position Year on Coaching Staff Alma Mater
Tony Bennett Head coach 10 10 UW-Green Bay
Jason Williford Associate head coach 1 10 Virginia
Brad Soderberg Assistant Coach 4 4 UW-Stevens Point
Orlando Vandross Assistant Coach 1 4 American International
Kyle Getter Director of Recruiting/Player Development 1 1 Hanover College
Larry Mangino Director of Scouting/recruiting 3 3 Montclair State
Johnny Carpenter Director of player personnel 1 4 Virginia
Mike Curtis Strength and Conditioning Coach 10 10 Virginia
Ethan Saliba Head Athletic Trainer 21 36 Kansas
Ronnie Wideman Associate AD for Basketball Administration/Operations 9 10 Washington State

Depth Chart

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Pos. Starting 5 Bench
C Jack Salt Jay Huff
PF Mamadi Diakite
SF De'Andre Hunter Braxton Key
SG Kyle Guy
PG Ty Jerome Kihei Clark

Schedule and results

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Source:[4]

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 6, 2018*
7:00 pm, ACCN Extra
No. 5 Towson W 73–42  1–0
 20  Jerome   10  Hunter   6  Clark  John Paul Jones Arena (13,807)
Charlottesville, VA
November 11, 2018*
2:00 pm, ACCN Extra
No. 5 George Washington W 76–57  2–0
 20  Tied   6  Jerome   7  Jerome  John Paul Jones Arena (13,574)
Charlottesville, VA
November 16, 2018*
7:00 pm, ACCN Extra
No. 4 Coppin State
Battle 4 Atlantis campus-site game
W 97–40  3–0
 20  Hunter   7  Key   6  Jerome  John Paul Jones Arena (13,971)
Charlottesville, VA
November 21, 2018*
9:30 pm, ESPN2
No. 4 vs. Middle Tennessee
Battle 4 Atlantis Quarterfinals
W 74–52  4–0
 15  Tied   8  Hunter   9  Hunter  Imperial Arena (1,115)
Nassau, Bahamas
November 22, 2018*
4:00 pm, ESPN
No. 4 vs. Dayton
Battle 4 Atlantis Semifinals
W 66–59  5–0
 23  Hunter   6  Tied   2  Tied  Imperial Arena (2,258)
Nassau, Bahamas
November 23, 2018*
2:00 pm, ESPN
No. 4 vs. No. 25 Wisconsin
Battle 4 Atlantis Final
W 53–46  6–0
 20  Hunter   9  Hunter   5  Jerome  Imperial Arena (2,249)
Nassau, Bahamas
November 28, 2018*
7:30 pm, ESPN
No. 4 at No. 24 Maryland
ACC–Big Ten Challenge
W 76–71  7–0
 18  Guy   7  Salt   4  Hunter  Xfinity Center (17,950)
College Park, MD
December 3, 2018*
7:00 pm, ACCN Extra
No. 4 Morgan State W 83–45  8–0
 15  Tied   9  Key   5  Jerome  John Paul Jones Arena (13,397)
Charlottesville, VA
December 9, 2018*
1:30 pm, ACCRSN
No. 4 VCU W 57–49  9–0
 15  Guy   8  Jerome   4  Key  John Paul Jones Arena (13,648)
Charlottesville, VA
December 19, 2018*
7:00 pm, SECN
No. 5 at South Carolina W 69–52  10–0
 25  Jerome   9  Salt   7  Jerome  Colonial Life Arena (12,291)
Columbia, SC
December 22, 2018*
2:00 pm, ACCN Extra
No. 5 William & Mary W 72–40  11–0
 18  Hunter   10  Jerome   4  Jerome  John Paul Jones Arena (14,623)
Charlottesville, VA
December 31, 2018*
1:00 pm, ACCRSN
No. 4 Marshall W 100–64  12–0
 30  Guy   8  Tied   4  Tied  John Paul Jones Arena (14,623)
Charlottesville, VA
ACC regular season
January 5, 2019
3:00 pm, ESPN2
No. 4 No. 9 Florida State W 65–52  13–0
(1–0)
 21  Guy   6  Tied   6  Jerome  John Paul Jones Arena (14,623)
Charlottesville, VA
January 9, 2019
9:00 pm, ESPNU
No. 4 at Boston College W 83–56  14–0
(2–0)
 18  Tied   9  Key   5  Guy  Conte Forum (5,738)
Chestnut Hill, MA
January 12, 2019
12:00 pm, Raycom
No. 4 at Clemson W 63–43  15–0
(3–0)
 13  Guy   8  Tied   5  Jerome  Littlejohn Coliseum (9,242)
Clemson, SC
January 15, 2019
8:00 pm, Raycom
No. 4 No. 9 Virginia Tech
Commonwealth Clash
W 81–59  16–0
(4–0)
 21  Hunter   5  Tied   12  Jerome  John Paul Jones Arena (14,623)
Charlottesville, VA
January 19, 2019
6:00 pm, ESPN
No. 4 at No. 1 Duke
College GameDay
L 70–72  16–1
(4–1)
 18  Hunter   6  Tied   4  Jerome  Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314)
Durham, NC
January 22, 2019
9:00 pm, ACCRSN
No. 3 Wake Forest W 68–45  17–1
(5–1)
 12  Tied   8  Salt   5  Tied  John Paul Jones Arena (14,273)
Charlottesville, VA
January 26, 2019
1:00 pm, CBS
No. 3 at Notre Dame W 82–55  18–1
(6–1)
 19  Hunter   9  Jerome   6  Jerome  Edmund P. Joyce Center (9,149)
South Bend, IN
January 29, 2019
7:00 pm, ESPN2
No. 3 at No. 23 NC State W 66–65 OT 19–1
(7–1)
 15  Hunter   8  Key   6  Jerome  PNC Arena (18,211)
Raleigh, NC
February 2, 2019
2:00 pm, Raycom
No. 3 Miami (FL) W 56–46  20–1
(8–1)
 14  Hunter   9  Salt   6  Clark  John Paul Jones Arena (13,978)
Charlottesville, VA
February 9, 2019
6:00 pm, ESPN
No. 3 No. 2 Duke
College GameDay
L 71–81  20–2
(8–2)
 16  Tied   10  Key   4  Jerome  John Paul Jones Arena (14,629)
Charlottesville, VA
February 11, 2019
7:00 pm, ESPN
No. 4 at No. 8 North Carolina W 69–61  21–2
(9–2)
 20  Tied   6  Key   11  Jerome  Dean Smith Center (21,750)
Chapel Hill, NC
February 16, 2019
2:00 pm, Raycom
No. 4 Notre Dame W 60–54  22–2
(10–2)
 22  Guy   10  Hunter   3  Tied  John Paul Jones Arena (13,448)
Charlottesville, VA
February 18, 2019
7:00 pm, ESPN
No. 3 at No. 20 Virginia Tech
Commonwealth Clash
W 64–58  23–2
(11–2)
 23  Guy   7  Guy   6  Jerome  Cassell Coliseum (9,275)
Blacksburg, VA
February 23, 2019
12:00 pm, Raycom
No. 3 at No. 18 Louisville W 64–52  24–2
(12–2)
 26  Hunter   8  Guy   5  Jerome  KFC Yum! Center (17,529)
Louisville, KY
February 27, 2019
7:00 pm, ESPN2
No. 2 Georgia Tech W 81–51  25–2
(13–2)
 19  Jerome   8  Diakite   6  Clark  John Paul Jones Arena (14,094)
Charlottesville, VA
March 2, 2019
2:00 pm, Raycom
No. 2 Pittsburgh W 73–49  26–2
(14–2)
 17  Guy   6  Huff   5  Hunter  John Paul Jones Arena (13,452)
Charlottesville, VA
March 4, 2019
7:00 pm, ESPN
No. 2 at Syracuse W 79–53  27–2
(15–2)
 25  Guy   7  Guy   14  Jerome  Carrier Dome (29,052)
Syracuse, NY
March 9, 2019
4:00 pm, ESPN
No. 2 Louisville
Senior Day
W 73–68  28–2
(16–2)
 24  Jerome   6  Guy   6  Jerome  John Paul Jones Arena (14,629)
Charlottesville, VA
ACC tournament
March 14, 2019
12:30 pm, ESPN/Raycom
(1) No. 2 vs. (8) NC State
Quarterfinals
W 76–56  29–2
 29  Guy   7  Key   10  Jerome  Spectrum Center (19,691)
Charlotte, NC
March 15, 2019
7:00 pm, ESPN/Raycom
(1) No. 2 vs. (4) No. 12 Florida State
Semifinals
L 59–69  29–3
 13  Hunter   5  Salt   4  Guy  Spectrum Center (20,116)
Charlotte, NC
NCAA tournament
March 22, 2019*
3:10 pm, truTV
(1 S) No. 2 vs. (16 S) Gardner–Webb
First Round
W 71–56  30–3
 23  Hunter   9  Diakite   6  Jerome  Colonial Life Arena (15,417)
Columbia, SC
March 24, 2019*
7:45 pm, truTV
(1 S) No. 2 vs. (9 S) Oklahoma
Second Round
W 63–51  31–3
 14  Diakite   9  Tied   3  Tied  Colonial Life Arena (16,332)
Columbia, SC
March 28, 2019*
9:59 pm, TBS
(1 S) No. 2 vs. (12 S) Oregon
Sweet Sixteen
W 53–49  32–3
 13  Jerome   11  Diakite   6  Jerome  KFC Yum! Center (19,831)
Louisville, KY
March 30, 2019*
8:49 pm, TBS
(1 S) No. 2 vs. (3 S) No. 13 Purdue
Elite Eight
W 80–75 OT 33–3
 25  Guy   10  Guy   7  Jerome  KFC Yum! Center (21,623)
Louisville, KY
April 6, 2019*
6:09 pm, CBS
(1 S) No. 2 vs. (5 MW) No. 14 Auburn
Final Four
W 63–62  34–3
 21  Jerome   9  Jerome   6  Jerome  U.S. Bank Stadium (72,711)
Minneapolis, MN
April 8, 2019*
9:20 pm, CBS
(1 S) No. 2 vs. (3 W) No. 9 Texas Tech
National Championship
W 85–77 OT 35–3
 27  Hunter   10  Key   8  Jerome  U.S. Bank Stadium (72,062)
Minneapolis, MN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
S=South, MW=Midwest, W=West.
All times are in Eastern Time.

Game summaries

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Towson Tigers vs Virginia Cavaliers

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November 6
7:00 PM
Towson Tigers 42, Virginia Cavaliers 73
Scoring by quarter: 19-28, 23-45
Pts: Tobias Howard (10)
Rebs: Dennis Tunstall
Brian Fobbs (6)
Asts: Dennis Tunstall (1)
Pts: Ty Jerome (20)
Rebs: De'Andre Hunter (10)
Asts: Kihei Clark (6)

Rankings

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Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
т = Tied with team above or below ( ) = First-place votes
Week
PollPre12345678910111213141516171819Final
AP5 (2)4 (2)4 (2)4 (1)4 (1)6 (1)5 (1)4 (4)4 (4)4 (5)4 (6)3 (3)3 (4)3 (4)432 (15)2 (21)2 (23)2 (5)Not released
Coaches5 (1)5^ (1)4443 (1)31 (10)2 (11)1 (11)1 (13)3334332T (2)2 (5)2 (1)1 (32)

*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings
^Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll.

References

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  1. ^ a b RJ Barrett leads No. 1 Duke past No. 4 Virginia 72–70, accessed January 19, 2019
  2. ^ Wang, Gene (March 9, 2019). "Virginia basketball clinches ACC title share, but honoring Jack Salt was 'more important'". The Washington Post. Charlottesville, Virginia, USA. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  3. ^ "Kyle Guy's free throws with 0.6 seconds remaining send Virginia to the title game". Ncaa.com.
  4. ^ "2018-19 Men's Basketball Schedule". virginiasports.com. University of Virginia. Retrieved February 28, 2019.

Notes

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