The Virginia men’s basketball team was right where it belonged in Chicago, Ill., and a win over No. 10 seed Syracuse is all that separated the No. 1 seed from Houston, Texas and the Final Four.
A late surge by the Orange torpedoed the Cavaliers’ quest for their first Final Four berth since 1984, but the real success for coach Tony Bennett’s team came in the manner they comported themselves against the challenges of the regular season.
The Cavaliers inaugurated the 2015-16 campaign with an 86-48 victory over Morgan State. Sophomore guard Darius Thompson earned the start in his team debut, contributed 12 points and the promise of a dynamic threat in the open court.
Three days later, Virginia took a loss on the road against George Washington, in a game that exposed the uncharacteristic defensive issues that would confound the Cavaliers throughout the season.
After the setback against the Colonials, the Cavaliers reeled off 11-straight victories, including a title in the Charleston Classic, a road win against Ohio State and consecutive wins against West Virginia, Villanova and California.
In the Jimmy V Classic, the Cavaliers outscored the Mountaineers 40-18 in the second half for a comfortable 70-54 win.
Virginia then hosted — and defeated — the eventual national champion Villanova Wildcats 86-75 in a thrilling game. The Cavaliers shot 56.5 percent from the field, and senior forward Anthony Gill and senior guard Malcolm Brogdon scored 22 and 20 points, respectively. Junior guard London Perrantes chipped in with 19 points, including three made threes.
In their penultimate non-conference game, the Cavaliers outlasted California 63-62 in a thrilling overtime win. Perrantes hit a three with 10 seconds on the clock in overtime to pull Virginia ahead for good.
However, a bumpy transition awaited the Cavaliers at the start of ACC play. Virginia dispatched Notre Dame at home before losing road games to Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech and Florida State.
The Cavaliers were mere seconds away from a fourth-straight road loss before making four-straight threes to stun Wake Forest. Thompson won the game with an off-balance heave that found glass before going through the hoop.
Virginia would find itself on the other end of a buzzer beater some two and a half weeks later, when Duke sophomore guard Grayson Allen banked home a layup that carried the Blue Devils past the Cavaliers, 63-62. Allen appeared to travel on the shot attempt, but no call was made.
After the controversy in Cameron Indoor Stadium, Virginia won four of its last five games to conclude the regular season.
The Cavaliers then rolled past Georgia Tech in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament before fighting past a pesky Miami team to set up a date with North Carolina in the championship game.
Virginia and the Tar Heels were tied at 28 going into the half, but the Cavaliers fell into a mighty offensive funk that saw them shoot 33.3 percent from the floor in the second. Virginia simply could not find enough buckets and fell to North Carolina, 61-57.
Despite the loss in the tournament final, the Cavaliers were awarded the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Regional, and cruised past Hampton in a game that will be remembered for a fainting episode by Bennett just before the half.
Virginia overcame a rock fight against Butler in the Round of 32 to advance to the Sweet 16 in Chicago, where the Cavaliers dispatched Iowa State.
Against Syracuse, Virginia was one half away from the Final Four, but the Orange outscored the Cavaliers by 20 in the second half to write a stunning and disappointing conclusion to Virginia’s season.
Brogdon garnered first-team All-American honors for a campaign in which he scored 18.2 points per game and led the team with unrelenting defense. Additionally, the Atlanta, Ga. native was named the ACC’s Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year — the first time the same player received both honors in the same year.
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