Tony Bennett Following Sweet 16 Win: “We’ve Built one Defense”

The best was saved for the last. In the most exciting NCAA game of the day, Virginia Cavaliers managed to defeated Oregon Ducks after a huge battle. The result was 53-49 for Tony Bennett’s guys who had to go deep under to take this one.

This was one of those games where points are a rarity, and scoring droughts which last for several minutes are a regular thing.

Now, despite Cavaliers’ lead throughout the majority of the game, they could have easily lost this one if it weren’t for Ty Jerome.

In the moments when Louis King scored eight straight points for the Ducks who took the lead, he was the guy who maintained the balance on the court with a couple of points, and good team plays.

The junior guard didn’t want to put the spotlight on himself and credited his teammates for giving him the opportunity to execute and to score when needed the most.

“Kihei Clark found me in the right spot, and I think Hunter or Mamadi Diakite set a great screen. I think they did a great job of finding me in the right spot,” said Jerome.

After his three, which gave Virginia a 48-45 lead, De’Andre Hunter scored a layup to add two more points on that, 27 seconds before the end.

In the meantime, the defense did an excellent job with freezing the Ducks for five and a half minutes. Oregon couldn’t score, and that was the main reason why Cavaliers fought this victory.

Their defensive effort covered up all the mistakes and misses on the opposite part of the floor. Coach Bennett spoke about that after the game.

“Offensively, there were struggles, but you’ve got to hang in there defensively,” Virginia’s coach said in the post-game press conference. “That’s how we’re built.”

Those struggles were constant throughout the game, and the shooting percentage of the Cavaliers was the biggest problem for them. With 35.7% from the field and just nine made threes in 33 attempts, they couldn’t create any notable difference.

That is why Jerome expressed his frustration after the match, saying that all the misses he had would have solved this contest much earlier.

“Honestly, right now I’m just thinking about the one I missed after that,” he said, “That would have really sealed the game.”

But that is what makes this team so good, the fact that even when they don’t play well overall, the defense always brings a win. This was the 11th time this season that the Cavaliers limited their rivals to 50 or fewer points.

After suffering one of the most devastating losses in their school history last season, Virginia is on a good track now. Back then, UMBC Retrievers eliminated them in the first round of the March Madness. This year, things are looking differently.

The Elite Eight is in front of them, and the opponent will be very, very tough – Purdue Boilermakers.

“We will have a test — you look at the offensive output that Purdue had and how they move — and I know Matt, and I think he’s one of the finest coaches.”

Purdue scored 99 points against the Tennesse Volunteers, and despite seeing overtime, that is a lot considering the fact that it was a Sweet 16 stage.

For the first time in the last three years, this team reached Elite 8, after being short one game in each of the previous two occasions.

Since 2006 these two programmes played only twice, and both have one win each. What gives confidence to the Cavaliers before this one is their current record at KFC Yum! Center. At the moment, they have five straight wins here.

That doesn’t have to mean anything, but it still needs to be taken into consideration.

The game will be played this Saturday, at 8:49 PM local time.