Virginia doesn't need Final Four validation, but drive for it still runs deep

NEW YORK — “Where’s the champagne?”

That’s the question that former star Justin Anderson had as he burst into the Virginia’s locker room 15 minutes after the Cavaliers had finished cutting down the nets at the Barclays Center following a 71-63 win over North Carolina. The ACC tournament trophy, which had been lugged through the bowels of the arena by current star and tournament MOP Kyle Guy, sat on a chair in front of Isaiah Wilkins’ locker while Anderson went from player to player, interrupting interview after interview to make sure he dapped every single person wearing a championship snapback with a piece of net tied to it.

“Finish strong,” the Philadelphia 76ers’ small forward said. “Gotta finish strong now.”

Virginia has been here before. This is the fifth time in the last five years that the Wahoos have won some kind of ACC title. Just like this year, they won both the ACC regular season and tournament titles in 2014, adding a regular season title in 2015. No one else in the conference can come close to matching that, and considering the fact that they are in a conference with two Tobacco Road bluebloods that have won a national title in the last three seasons, it’s a remarkable achievement.

Think about it.

No program has had more success in the ACC in the last five years than Virginia.

But they haven’t done it in the tournament. They haven’t gotten to the Final Four. They were upset in the Sweet 16 by No. 4 seed Michigan State in 2014. The following year, the Spartans picked off No. 2 seed Virginia in the second round. In 2016, Virginia was again a No. 1 seed and held a late 15-point lead in the Elite 8 against Syracuse before blowing it in the final 10 minutes, costing themselves their best chance to date at getting to college basketball’s final weekend.

And that has become what this season for the Wahoos, at least from the outside. Is this the year that Tony Bennett’s style of coaching is validated with success in March?

“We went to an Elite 8, almost got to a Final Four, but the NCAA Tournament, you want to do as well as you can in that,” Bennett said. “Those are the tangible things everybody judges you on.”

Virginia is unquestionably the most accomplished team in college basketball. They won the ACC regular season title by a full four games. They won the ACC tournament title. They are the consensus No. 1 team in both polls. They are No. 1 in the RPI and on KenPom, the preeminent results-based and predictive metrics. They set a program record with their 31st win of the season on Saturday night, but “that record doesn’t mean anything if we don’t get to 37 wins,” Guy said.

The players in that locker room aren’t stupid. They aren’t naive. They know what people think about the way that they play. They know that grinding teams down defensively, that winning the way that they win is not the most thrilling or exciting brand of basketball. In an era where teams are getting smaller and faster and more perimeter-oriented at every level of the game, Virginia is putting together what may turn out to be the single-best defensive season that we’ve seen from a team in the KenPom era.

“Everyone’s lying if they’re saying they don’t hear any of that or they don’t ever think about it,” Guy said, acknowledging that it’s compounded by the fact that they’ve yet to get to a Final Four in the Bennett-era. “We just try to say in our own lane, blinders on like horses, don’t worry about any of the outside noise. But you definitely notice when watching another college basketball game and people are sh***ing on us.”

That’s where the motivation comes from.

That’s part of why so many former Wahoos were perched behind Bennett’s bench on Saturday night. From Anderson to Joe Harris to Akil Mitchell to Evan Nolte, the alumni that were able to make it to Brooklyn on Saturday night did.

“Once you’re a part of the UVA program, you’re part of the family and that’s indicative of us being on the floor right now, being behind the bench tonight,” Harris said. “So I want [a Final Four] for him. I want it for him for the validation.”

The question is whether or not validation should be needed.

The idea that a team or a program is not ‘legit’ because they have not had a Final Four run in the NCAA tournament has always been silly to me. Anything can happen in a one-game elimination event like the NCAA tournament, especially when dealing with a sport like basketball that is being played by 19-22 year olds. Wild stuff always has and always will happen. It’s what makes the NCAA tournament great, and it’s why judging a program based off of nothing but tournament success is unfair.

“It’s March, dude. Anything can happen,” Guy said. “The basketball gods haven’t been in our favor.”

“To win a regular season ACC, that’s the long haul. That’s big. That’s tough,” Bennett said.

But at some point, the wins have to come.

And Virginia has never been better set up to make a run in March than this season.

Whether you like it or not.

“It’s just funny,” Ty Jerome said. “Trae Young might not even be in the tournament, and that’s not a knock on him. He’s a great player. Marvin Bagley deserves all the attention he gets. Deandre Ayton the same way. It’s not a knock on those guys, and ESPN has the right to cover whatever they want.”

“But if we win it all they’ll have no choice but to cover us.”

“If we haven’t gotten the respect now,” Anderson said, “we don’t need it.”

“What we do works.”

Conference: Big West

Coach: Dedrique Taylor

Record: 20-11, 10-6

Rankings and Ratings:

– Kenpom: 153
– RPI: 131
– AP/USA TODAY: Not ranked

Seeding: Fullerton finished in fourth in the Big West, meaning that they are likely going to end up being one of the lower-seeded teams in the field. If I had to guess, I think they’ll end up as a No. 16 seed but avoid the play-in game.

Names you need to know: Fullerton’s best player is a junior guard from Brooklyn named Kyle Allman. At 6-foot-3, he was one of the best scorers in the Big West, averaging better than 19 points per night. Khalil Ahmad and Jackson Rowe round out Fullerton’s big three.

Stats you need to know: Fullerton was the second-most efficient offense in the Big West this season, but the reason for that is how often they are able to get to the foul line. They, quite literally, have the highest free throw rate in all of college basketball. They turn the ball over too much, they don’t get offensive boards and they can’t really shoot threes, but they will get to the line.

Big wins, bad losses: The Titans have wins over Harvard and Utah Valley on their résumé, but that’s really it in terms of notable results.

How’d they get here?: Fullerton finished fourth in the Big East, but they knocked off both UC Davis and UC Irvine, who were probably the top two teams in the league this season, in the Big West tournament.

Outlook: This is a team that we expect to be on the No. 16 seed line. Don’t expect too much.

How do I know you?: You probably don’t know all that much about the Fullerton basketball team, but their baseball team is nasty and routinely makes the college world series.

PLAYER OF THE DAY

The talk of college basketball on Saturday night centered around the play of Arizona freshman center Deandre Ayton. The big man dominated the Pac-12 Tournament for the second consecutive night as Ayton finished with 32 points and 18 rebounds in a championship game win over USC.

A night after putting 32 and 14 on UCLA in a win, Ayton was just as ridiculous on Saturday as he went 14-for-20 from the field and scored on a number of high-level shots. Putting up his 23rd double-double of the season — tying him with Kevin Love for the Pac-12 freshman record — Ayton appears to be peaking at the right time as Arizona looks like a really dangerous team entering the 2018 NCAA tournament.

RELATED: All of Saturday’s Bubble Banter in one place

THE REST OF SATURDAY’S STARS

JALEN BRUNSON,Villanova: The NBCSports.com Player of the Year poured in 31 points as the Wildcats claimed an overtime victory over Providence for the Big East Tournament title. Brunson also finished with six rebounds and four assists.
ROB GRAY, Houston: Earning its biggest win of the season, Houston is headed to the AAC Tournament finals behind Gray’s 33 points in a win over Wichita State. Gray had a key steal and assist down the stretch as he was also 13-for-15 from the free-throw line.
TREY KELL, San Diego State: Pumping in a game-high 28 points, the senior made numerous clutch shots down the stretch to help San Diego State secure another NCAA tournament bid in the Mountain West with a win over New Mexico. Battling injuries throughout the season, Kell picked a great time to have his best game of the year.
JON ELMORE, Marshall: The Thundering Herd are headed to the Big Dance for the first time in 31 years thanks to Elmore’s monster second half. The junior guard had 20 of his 27 points in the second half to lead Marshall to victory over Western Kentucky.

TEAM OF THE DAY

By claiming the ACC Tournament title over North Carolina, Virginia staked a firm claim as the No. 1 team in college basketball entering the 2018 NCAA Tournament.

In a year full of parity in the sport, the Cavaliers dominated the ACC throughout this season as they claimed the regular-season title and the conference tournament title. But can Virginia carry the momentum of that No. 1 status into a Final Four appearance?

CBT’s Rob Dauster has more on Virginia here.

GAME OF THE DAY

The America East Tournament title game has become an underrated treasure in college hoops thanks to its early Saturday start time the day before Selection Sunday.

Saturday’s contest didn’t disappoint.

Jairus Lyles knocked in the game-winning three-pointer to lift UMBC to a road win over Vermont for the America East autobid. A tight back-and-forth game throughout, this game only adds to the legend of the America East title game as this will be a hard act to follow for next season.

WTF???? OF THE DAY

Providence head coach Ed Cooley got so animated on the sidelines during the Big East Tournament title game that he split his suit pants.

This resulted in Cooley having to wear towels around his waist to coach the rest of the game in an overtime loss to Villanova.

WHAT ELSE DO YOU NEED TO KNOW?

Without starting big man Udoka Azubuike, Kansas was still able to outlast the field and claim the Big 12 Tournament title. The Jayhawks took down West Virginia in the finale as Malik Newman paced Kansas with 20 points.

Tennessee and Kentucky will meet for the SEC title on Sunday after the two teams earned blowout wins over Arkansas and Alabama.

Cincinnati will face Houston for the AAC title on Sunday after the Bearcats rallied to take down Memphis.

The Atlantic 10 title game will feature Rhode Island battling Davidson for the autobid. The Rams were able to outlast Saint Joseph’s for a three-point win while the Wildcats kept their NCAA tournament hopes alive with a win against St. Bonaventure.

Autobids were decided in a number of leagues on Saturday. North Carolina Central claimed the MEAC, Texas Southern won the SWAC, Montana won the Big Sky, Stephen F. Austin reclaimed the Southland, New Mexico State is back representing the WAC and Marshall is back in the field for the first time in 31 years by winning Conference USA.

Conference: WAC

Coach: Chris Jans

Record: 28-5, 12-2 (first in the WAC)

Rankings and Ratings:

– Kenpom: 58
– RPI: 42
– AP/USA TODAY: Not ranked

Seeding: New Mexico State will likely fall in the No. 12-13 range for seeding after a very strong season. Winning the WAC by two full games, the Aggies also have some good wins over power conference teams.

Names you need to know: Senior guard Zach Lofton is averaging around 20 points per game as he’s the team’s leading scorer. Senior forward Jemarrio Jones is putting up 10.8 points and 13.0 rebounds per game on the season as he’s a double-double threat. Sophomore guard A.J. Harris is an Ohio State transfer who is capable of scoring or distributing.

Stats you need to know: Armed with a top-15 adjusted defensive efficiency, according to KenPom, New Mexico State earned many of its wins by getting stops. It’s also important to know that the Aggies are No. 345 in the country in free-throw shooting at 63.9 percent.

Big wins, bad losses: A win over Miami is the most impressive win for New Mexico State as they also picked off Illinois in Chicago and Davidson. Only a road loss at Seattle classifies in the sub-150 RPI category as New Mexico State doesn’t have a lot of bad losses.

How’d they get here?: New Mexico State steamrolled Chicago State before holding off Seattle and Grand Canyon to earn the autobid.

Outlook: New Mexico State has already beaten some power conference teams and they have one of the best defenses in the country. If a go-to scorer like Lofton gets hot then the Aggies could be a trendy upset pick.

How do I know you?: The Aggies have been in the NCAA tournament in five of the last six years as they haven’t won a game in the event during that span.

LAS VEGAS — Deandre Ayton dribbled through the sea of red-and-white confetti, bobbing and weaving past cheerleaders and fans. The Arizona big man came upon a security guard, dropped a spin move that left both smiling and headed to the locker room.

Ayton’s night at the Pac-12 championship was just as smooth a ride.

Ayton had 32 points and 18 rebounds in one of the most dominating performances in Pac-12 Tournament history, leading No. 15 Arizona to its second straight title with a 75-61 victory over Southern California on Saturday night.

“The dominance he just put forth, if there’s another player better, I’d like to meet him,” Arizona coach Sean Miller said. “He put his team on his back, played the right way and absolutely was a one-man wrecking crew.”

Ayton put on a show along The Strip, bouncing back from a nervous Pac-12 opener against Colorado with two dominating games.

The Bahamian big man had 32 points and 14 rebounds in a semifinal win over UCLA and knocked the Trojans (23-11) around like bowling pins in the championship game. Ayton made 14 of 20 shots from the floor and all four of his free throws to lead Arizona (27-8) to its ninth Pac-12 title.

“I was a little starstruck, I wasn’t ready, rushing all of my shots against Colorado, not taking my time,” said Ayton, who matched the Pac-12 freshman record set by UCLA’s Kevin Love with his 23rd double-double. “Coach told me to face up, see what the defense is giving me and that’s what I did.”

USC gave Arizona trouble with its zone at times and had a decent offensive night. The Trojans just had no answer for Ayton.

“I don’t think you’re going to stop a guy like that, so we just have to try to do our best to contain him,” said Nick Rakocevic, led USC with 13 points. “Although he went off tonight.

Both teams fought through adversity to reach the title game.

Arizona was twice entangled in a federal investigation into shady recruiting practices. USC was named in the probe as well, leading to sophomore De’Anthony Melton to be ruled ineligible this season.

The Trojans also have played without Bennie Boatright since Feb. 15, when he suffered a season-ending knee injury, and backup point guard Derryck Thornton missed the semifinals due to an illness.

In the title game, USC had success getting into the lane and with its pick-and-roll on offense while giving the Wildcats trouble with its zone.

Arizona had success getting to the offensive glass — eight in the first half — and by getting the ball to Ayton, who had 13 points and eight rebounds by halftime.

USC led 33-30.

“We had a three-point lead at halftime in a Pac-12 championship,” USC coach Andy Endfield said. “That’s what you play for, that’s what you dream about.”

But Ayton continued to be a nightmare in the second half and USC went down a big man when Chimezie Metu picked up his fourth foul with 12 minutes left.

Arizona took off from there — literally.

Rawle Alkins brought the pro-Arizona crowd to a roar with a two-handed dunk over Elijah Stewart and Ayton followed with another dunk to make it even louder, putting Arizona up 53-46.

Ayton kept dunking and the crowd kept roaring until the confetti cannons went off.

BIG PICTURE

USC: likely locked up a spot in the NCAA Tournament after its semifinal victory, but might sweat a little on Selection Sunday

Arizona: looking like one of the nation’s best teams at just the right time and should get a high seed in the NCAA Tournament.

ALKINS’ DUNK

Alkins’ dunk over Stewart caused maybe the loudest of the night in T-Mobile Arena and still had Arizona’s players talking long after the game.

“It took me a few seconds to realize what happened,” Arizona center Dusan Ristic said. “It was one of the best dunks I’d ever seen in my life.”

UP NEXT

USC: will play in the postseason, hoping it will be in the NCAA Tournament.

Arizona: will play in the NCAA Tournament, most likely as a high seed.

Conference: Southland

Coach: Kyle Keller

Record: 28-6, 14-4 (third in Southland)

Rankings and Ratings:

– Kenpom: 112
– RPI: 108
– AP/USA TODAY: Not ranked

Seeding: Stephen F. Austin is a likely looking at a No. 15 seed since they don’t have a lot of high-quality wins and the mid-major field is strong.

Names you need to know: The trio of Shannon Bogues, Kevon Harris and TJ Holyfield is very solid as all three players can put up points. Big man Leon Gilmore and senior guard Ty Charles are experienced seniors.

Stats you need to know: Tied for No. 18 in the country in field goal percentage at 49 percent, Stephen F. Austin takes high-percentage shots and has a number of different offensive weapons.

Big wins, bad losses: Stephen F. Austin has a road win over LSU on its record while they also barely lost on the road at Missouri and Mississippi State. All three of those teams were at least in NCAA tournament contention this week, so the Lumberjacks can hang with good teams.

How’d they get here?: The Lumberjacks dispatched Central Arkansas, Nicholls and SE Louisiana to win the Southland Conference Tournament.

Outlook: Would you want to face Stephen F. Austin in the NCAA tournament knowing the reputation? Even with a new coach in Keller from those postseason glory days, this is still a dangerous roster with players with NCAA tournament experience. But as a 15 seed, Stephen F. Austin will likely get taken down in the opener.

How do I know you?: Stephen F. Austin made the NCAA tournament in three consecutive years under head coach Brad Underwood before making the CIT last season. The Lumberjacks won a first round game in two of those seasons.

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