How Historic is UVA’s Defense?

The #2 Virginia men's basketball team's defense is ranked first in the country, allowing only 50.8 points per game, with #1 Kentucky at their heels at 51.8. But how historically low is that number?

Last year UVA led the nation in this category as well, but at 55.7 points per game. The year before the leader was Stephen F. Austin at 51.2. You have to go all the way back to 1992 to find a stingier defense, when Princeton held its opponents to a mere 48 points a game.  (That is roughly 325 teams in the country for 22 years, or over 7,100 total seasons before finding a better defense.) In 1992, UVA's coach Tony Bennett was playing in college. Here is the list of the leaders by year:

Tony Bennett fans should recognize a couple of those teams, including his 2009 Washington State team and his father Dick Bennett’s 2001 Wisconsin team.

How about just looking at Virginia’s history? How does this year’s Cavaliers squad compare to the 109 other seasons of UVA basketball history through 23 games? Bennett’s 2012 and 2013 teams were smothering defenses as well, but with a slightly higher average of 53 points per game. Earlier coaches Dave Leitao and Pete Gillen were not known for defense and their teams averaged 72 points a game. You would think the great Ralph Sampson would have contributed to historic defensive teams as well, but they allowed 62 points a game.  Even the ‘60s UVA teams allowed an average of 80 points a game. That is 60% more scoring allowed per game even without a shot clock or 3 point line. That could be why the program went 69-176 (.281) that decade. You have to go all the way back to the 1946 season to find a Virginia team giving up less than 50 points a game.

Check out the results from that year:

Talk about an easy schedule. UNC and Duke only once? VMI and W&L twice?

(Interestingly enough a lot of the opponents around that time were military schools due to WWII, so UVA would play against air bases and naval training centers.  I can only imagine what losing to “N.C. Pre-Flight School” and “Camp Lee” did to Virginia's RPI in 1943.)

The teams in the 1920s played games with scores only in the 20’s, so this year’s Virginia team is not going to break any all-time records, but they still have a chance to finish as the best Wahoo defense in almost 70 years.

UVa Men's Basketball Keeps Rolling On

UVa’s basketball team is having another historic season. The Hoos are undefeated so far at 17-0 and are ranked #2 in the country. They are off to their best start in 34 years and have not been ranked this high since 1983. In fact, since January 18th of last year, Virginia has gone 35-2, best in the nation.

The Cavaliers have achieved this record due to their dominant defense, which is #1 in the country in points allowed per game and #2 in field goal percentage. Meanwhile, the offense has been efficient as well, ranked #24 in FG% and #4 in KenPom offense efficiency ratings.

Last season, UVa won the ACC regular season and tournament titles for the first time ever, and will have a tough time repeating this year. Next week the Wahoos start a three game stretch against #5 Duke, at #15 North Carolina, and #10 Louisville.

In fact, the Duke game is such a big match-up that ESPN’s traveling pregame show, “College Gameday,” will be in Charlottesville for the first time ever for that game.

Meanwhile, Kentucky is the other undefeated team in the country, and is ranked #1, garnering lots of media attention.  The Wildcats are a team made up of mostly All-American freshman looking to go to the NBA after their one year, while UVa is comprised of mostly upperclassmen with more aspirations towards graduation than the pros. It would make for an interesting title game if these two top teams make it that far.

Let’s Go Hoos!

UVa’s Men’s Basketball’s Historic Season Reaches New Heights This Weekend Against Syracuse

Last night, #12 UVa’s men’s basketball team cruised to their 12th straight victory and 15th in the last 16 games. The Cavaliers now have a 15-1 ACC record and are in first place by 1.5 games over #4 Syracuse, which comes into Charlottesville on Saturday. The Wahoo’s can extend their magical season by claiming their 2nd outright ACC title ever with a win. Here are some stats on how historic this season has been for Virginia:

• The last time they won an ACC title outright was in 1981, over 30 years ago
• It’s the first time the program has won 12 straight ACC games since 1981-82
• UVa also improved to 19 games above .500 for the first time since 1982-83
• They won a program-record 11th ACC game by double figures.
• The Hoos have won 17 straight home ACC games, a new school record
• They have led by 19 or more in 12 of 16 ACC games

How has a team that did not make the NCAA tournament last year and was not ranked until three weeks ago able to run rampant over the toughest conference in the country? It all starts with the defense:

• The Cavaliers have the #1 defense in the country in points per game and #8 in defensive FG%
• They have held 16 straight teams below their season average for points
• The offense is balanced as well, since seven different players have led the team in scoring

The game will be nationally televised on ESPN with Dickie V doing the commentary.  It has been sold out for months with the cheapest nosebleed ticket currently going for $268 on Stubhub.  ESPN already has video breaking down the match-up: http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=10518180

The basketball game is not the only sports action in Charlottesville on Saturday though. After the game, across the street, the #4 men’s lacrosse team hosts the #6 team in the country. What rival successful lacrosse team warrants the night time matchup? You guessed it, Syracuse. Earlier in the day, UVa’s top #5 ranked baseball, tennis, and women's lacrosse teams are in action as well.  Hopefully the Hoo’s can pull out the upset to continue their historic season and confirm my prophetic tweet from last March:

Virginia Spring Sports Back at it Again

After uneventful football and basketball seasons, UVa’s more successful sports are now in full swing. Virginia’s baseball and tennis teams are ranked #1 in the country, while lacrosse was #2 last week.

The baseball team made national headlines this week due to Will Roberts' perfect game against George Washington, despite GW’s reporting. It was the first one in the program’s history, and the first time nationally in nine years. The Cavaliers took over the #1 ranking going into the Colonials game and have compiled a 25-2 record so far this season. After defeating then #4 Clemson and #4 Florida State five games to one in ACC competition earlier, the Wahoos travel to Blacksburg this weekend to take on the Hokies.

Meanwhile the tennis team is #1 and undefeated at 20-0. Yawn. Virginia has not been out of the top #2 since February 2009, over 82 matches ago. In fact, the Cavs have only lost 15 out of 149 games this season. Only six more ACC matches remain until postseason play begins.

As for the lacrosse team, it seems to be a down year for them, since they already lost two games this season. Even though the Hoos only lost by a combined three goals to Syracuse and Johns Hopkins on the road, they slipped to #6 this past week. It is the first time UVa has dropped out of the top #5 in over three seasons. The Cavaliers start their three game ACC schedule this week against Maryland at Scott Stadium.

These teams also had hot starts last year which I wrote about, but then choked in the playoffs, which I unfortunately also noted. I hope these teams reverse these trends this year.