NCAA Basketball: North Carolina, Gonzaga still sit atop updated top 25 ranking
By Joey Loose
24. Virginia (2-0)
It’s hard to know exactly what to expect from Tony Bennett’s Virginia teams. The Cavaliers won the national title back in 2019 with elite defense and impressive shooting, but they didn’t even make the Big Dance last year. There have also been a few notable postseason upsets. Due to that strong defense, the metrics always seem to love Virginia and they’ve given us reason to defend that early on in the year.
There’s nothing wrong with two wins to open the season, and Virginia got started with a 73-61 win over North Carolina Central. Armaan Franklin led the way with 21 points while the Cavaliers hit 44% of their 3-point attempts. Their Friday action was much less exciting, taking it to Monmouth in an 89-42 victory. Isaac McKneely led the way with 18 points off the bench, while former national champion Kihei Clark had 8 points and 7 assists to lead the charge.
Early on, the shots are falling and the defense is playing acceptable ball. This defense isn’t quite at the elite level yet, though there are zero complaints in giving up just 42 points to the Hawks on Friday. The positive is how the offense has fared to this point; very successfully two games into the season. We’ll have to see how pieces like Jayden Gardner and Reece Beekman contribute on both sides of the ball; perhaps this could be another special season for a Virginia team looking to get back to the NCAA Tournament.