ACC Basketball power rankings: Florida State takes top spot as Duke tumbles

Tony Bennett’s squad is dominating on the defensive end of the floor, business as usual. The Cavaliers sit at No. 2 in the nation in KenPom’s defensive efficiency metric. Virginia opened the season with a win in which they held Syracuse to 34 points, and this defensive performance set the tone for the season. The Cavaliers are only allowing 49.5 points per game on the season, which is first in the ACC and the nation. The problem, however, has been that the Virginia defense has been carrying the offense—which is struggling—more than usual.

Virginia is averaging 55 points per game, which is dead-last in the ACC. Mamadi Diakite is Virginia’s leading scorer at 13.4 points per game but he has turned it on as of late. Diakite scored 17 points, which included six trips to the free throw line. Bennett will need Diakite to be aggressive in order for the Cavaliers to have a strong finish in the ACC. They were able to end a three-game slide with Saturday’s road win over Georgia Tech and at 4-3 are starting to dig themselves out of a hole in conference play.

A January 26 game at Wake Forest is another game in which Virginia should be able to grind out a win before things kick up a notch in terms of competition. Virginia closes out the month with Florida State before seeing Clemson at the beginning of February. The Cavaliers have long been among the top teams in the ACC, and I expect them to rise near the top soon. But with there being so much parity in the conference this season, Virginia will need to make sure to not overlook any opponent as they try to start a winnings streak.