2018–19 Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team

2018–19 Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball
NCAA tournament National Champions ACC regular season co-champions Battle 4 Atlantis champions
National Championship Game, W 85-77OT vs. Texas Tech
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches	#1
AP	#2
2018–19 record	35–3 (16–2 ACC)
Head coach	Tony Bennett (10th year)
Associate head coach	Jason Williford (10th year)
Assistant coach	Brad Soderberg (4th year)
Assistant coach	Orlando Vandross (1st year)
Offensive scheme	Blocker-Mover
Base defense	Pack-Line
Captain	Jack Salt
Captain	Kyle Guy
Captain	Ty Jerome
Home arena	John Paul Jones Arena

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

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.

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. 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. After a 16–2 ACC record, Virginia won a share of their fourth ACC regular season title in the past six years.

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. On April 8, 2019, Virginia beat Texas Tech 85–77 in overtime, winning its first national championship.

Previous season

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

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

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

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

Name	Home town	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
	Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN: N/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
	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
	Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN: N/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:

Roster

Players

2018–19 Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year High school/previous college Home town 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 Tony Bennett (Green Bay) Assistant coach(es) Jason Williford (Virginia) Brad Soderberg (UW–Stevens Point) Orlando Vandross (American International) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Coaching staff

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

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2	Bench 3
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

Source:

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	#5	Towson	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	#5	George Washington	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	#4	Coppin State Battle 4 Atlantis campus-site game	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	#4	vs. Middle Tennessee Battle 4 Atlantis Quarterfinals	74–52	4–0	15 – Tied	8 – Hunter	9 – Hunter	Imperial Arena (1,115) Nassau, Bahamas
November 22, 2018* 4:00 pm, ESPN	#4	vs. Dayton Battle 4 Atlantis Semifinals	66–59	5–0	23 – Hunter	6 – Tied	2 – Tied	Imperial Arena (2,258) Nassau, Bahamas
November 23, 2018* 2:00 pm, ESPN	#4	vs. #25 Wisconsin Battle 4 Atlantis Final	53–46	6–0	20 – Hunter	9 – Hunter	5 – Jerome	Imperial Arena (2,249) Nassau, Bahamas
November 28, 2018* 7:30 pm, ESPN	#4	at #24 Maryland ACC–Big Ten Challenge	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	#4	Morgan State	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	#4	VCU	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	#5	at South Carolina	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	#5	William & Mary	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	#4	Marshall	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	#4	#9 Florida State	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	#4	at Boston College	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	#4	at Clemson	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	#4	#9 Virginia Tech Commonwealth Clash	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	#4	at #1 Duke College GameDay	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	#3	Wake Forest	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	#3	at Notre Dame	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	#3	at #23 NC State	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	#3	Miami (FL)	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	#3	#2 Duke College GameDay	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	#4	at #8 North Carolina	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	#4	Notre Dame	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	#3	at #20 Virginia Tech Commonwealth Clash	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	#3	at #18 Louisville	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	#2	Georgia Tech	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	#2	Pittsburgh	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	#2	at Syracuse	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	#2	Louisville Senior Day	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) #2	vs. (8) NC State Quarterfinals	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) #2	vs. (4) #12 Florida State Semifinals	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) #2	vs. (16 S) Gardner–Webb First Round	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) #2	vs. (9 S) Oklahoma Second Round	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) #2	vs. (12 S) Oregon Sweet Sixteen	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) #2	vs. (3 S) #13 Purdue Elite Eight	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) #2	vs. (5 MW) #14 Auburn Final Four	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) #2	vs. (3 W) #9 Texas Tech National Championship	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

Towson Tigers vs Virginia Cavaliers

ACCN Extra

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)

John Paul Jones Arena, Charlottesville, VA

Rankings

See also: 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final
AP	5 (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)	4	3	2 (15)	2 (21)	2 (23)	2 (5)	Not released
Coaches	5 (1)	5^ (1)	4	4	4	3 (1)	3	1 (10)	2 (11)	1 (11)	1 (13)	3	3	3	4	3	3	2T (2)	2 (5)	2 (1)	1 (32)
{{{poll3title}}}	{{{poll3_0}}}	{{{poll3_1}}}	{{{poll3_2}}}	{{{poll3_3}}}	{{{poll3_4}}}	{{{poll3_5}}}	{{{poll3_6}}}	{{{poll3_7}}}	{{{poll3_8}}}	{{{poll3_9}}}	{{{poll3_10}}}	{{{poll3_11}}}	{{{poll3_12}}}	{{{poll3_13}}}	{{{poll3_14}}}	{{{poll3_15}}}	{{{poll3_16}}}	{{{poll3_17}}}	{{{poll3_18}}}	{{{poll3_19}}}	{{{poll3_20}}}
{{{poll4title}}}	{{{poll4_0}}}	{{{poll4_1}}}	{{{poll4_2}}}	{{{poll4_3}}}	{{{poll4_4}}}	{{{poll4_5}}}	{{{poll4_6}}}	{{{poll4_7}}}	{{{poll4_8}}}	{{{poll4_9}}}	{{{poll4_10}}}	{{{poll4_11}}}	{{{poll4_12}}}	{{{poll4_13}}}	{{{poll4_14}}}	{{{poll4_15}}}	{{{poll4_16}}}	{{{poll4_17}}}	{{{poll4_18}}}	{{{poll4_19}}}	{{{poll4_20}}}
{{{poll5title}}}	{{{poll5_0}}}	{{{poll5_1}}}	{{{poll5_2}}}	{{{poll5_3}}}	{{{poll5_4}}}	{{{poll5_5}}}	{{{poll5_6}}}	{{{poll5_7}}}	{{{poll5_8}}}	{{{poll5_9}}}	{{{poll5_10}}}	{{{poll5_11}}}	{{{poll5_12}}}	{{{poll5_13}}}	{{{poll5_14}}}	{{{poll5_15}}}	{{{poll5_16}}}	{{{poll5_17}}}	{{{poll5_18}}}	{{{poll5_19}}}	{{{poll5_20}}}

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