Virginia Looks to End Regular Season on Positive Note at Louisville

The Cavaliers hope to gain some momentum heading into next week's ACC Tournament

Matt Newton | Mar 3, 2022

Before the Cavaliers journey to New York for a do-or-die week of basketball at the ACC Tournament, Virginia heads to Louisville on Saturday, looking to snap a two-game losing streak in the finale of the college basketball regular season.

UVA has lost its last two games by a combined five points, including a heartbreaking 64-63 loss to Florida State on a Matthew Cleveland buzzer-beating three-pointer. Morale could be low following back-to-back close losses and Virginia has also struggled on the road this season with a 5-6 record in away games, but the Cavaliers do have some things going for them as they prepare to take on the Cardinals on Saturday.

For starters, Virginia is facing a familiar opponent and one which the Cavaliers have no shortage of experience in beating, including a 64-52 win over Louisville earlier this season in Charlottesville. The Hoos have enjoyed a dominant run in the series against the Cardinals since they joined the ACC in 2014. UVA has won 13 of the 15 meetings between the two teams as ACC rivals, including 12 of the last 13 matchups.

Virginia has also made somewhat of a second home at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville. The Cavaliers are 5-2 against the Cardinals in games played in Louisville. UVA fans will easily (and gladly) remember some very notable games the Hoos played in the KFC Yum! Center, including two NCAA Tournament games. Virginia played both its Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight games during the 2019 National Championship run in Louisville's home arena. The iconic Kihei Clark pass to Mamadi Diakite for the buzzer-beating shot to save the season against Purdue occurred in that building, as did De'Andre Hunter's three-point bank shot to complete Virginia's "five points in 0.9 seconds" comeback to stun Louisville on March 1st, 2018.

Virginia has also fared quite well in regular season finales in the Tony Bennett era. Since Bennett became UVA's head coach in 2009, the Cavaliers are 9-3 in the final game of the regular season, including a current six-game winning streak in regular season finales, four of which were victories against Louisville.

With a full week to prepare, Virginia should have a significant edge over a struggling Louisville team that currently sits at 11th in the ACC standings with a conference record of 6-13. The Cardinals are 12-17 overall and have lost eight of their last nine games since parting ways with head coach Chris Mack, a coaching change which took place just a couple of days after Virginia defeated Louisville on January 24th.

A win over Louisville does not change UVA's postseason outlook very much, since Virginia has little to no chance of earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Win or lose, the Cavaliers will still be in a position where they must win the ACC Tournament to guarantee that they will hear their name called on Selection Sunday. However, a strong performance and a win over Louisville will give Virginia some much-needed momentum rolling into an ACC Tournament that will make or break UVA's season.

Despite the back-to-back close losses and the overall ups and downs that have defined this Virginia basketball season, Tony Bennett has been fairly pleased with the progress his team has made this season, especially in the last several weeks.

"That [loss] stings, but it does not take away the improvement of individual players and then collectively... I am pleased in that direction," Bennett said on Monday. "You just want to finish strong and you want to just keep attacking and going at it in the right way with our last regular season game and then of course into the ACC Tournament."

Bennett and the Cavaliers will look to secure that strong regular season finish when they take on the Cardinals on Saturday at 12pm in Louisville.

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