The 2018–19 Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team represented the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

during the

2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 6, 2018. The first tournament was the 2K Sports Classic and the season concluded with the Final Four in Minneapolis on April 8, 2019. Practices officially began on Septembe ...

. The team was led by head coach

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birth ...

in his tenth year, and played their home games at

John Paul Jones Arena John Paul Jones Arena, or JPJ, is a multi-purpose arena owned by the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. Since November 2006, it serves as the home to the Virginia Cavaliers men's and women's basketball teams, as well as for co ...

Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Ch ...

as members of the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

. UVA opened the season with consecutive wins over ranked

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

teams, No. 25 Wisconsin ( Battle 4 Atlantis) and No. 24 Maryland (

ACC–Big Ten Challenge The ACC–Big Ten Challenge (or Big Ten–ACC Challenge as it was called in alternating years) was an in-season NCAA Division I men's college basketball series that matched up teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the Big Ten Confer ...

), the latter of which improved Bennett's record in the Challenge to 8–2. An unheralded two-star recruit, 5'9"

Kihei Clark Kihei Issaiah Clark (born January 25, 2000) is an American college basketball player for the Virginia Cavaliers of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Early life Clark was born in Tarzana, Los Angeles as the oldest son of Malik and Sharon Clar ...

from

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, started both games as a true freshman. The team then started the season 16–0 before falling to No. 1 Duke, 72–70.RJ Barrett leads No. 1 Duke past No. 4 Virginia 72–70
accessed January 19, 2019 The game was just the fourth in college basketball history between two teams both ranked No. 1, as the No. 4 Cavaliers were voted atop the Coaches Poll before the loss. After a 16–2 ACC record, Virginia won a share of their fourth ACC regular season title in the past six years. In the ACC tournament, the Cavaliers defeated NC State 76–56, before falling to Florida State in the conference semifinals. Virginia was then awarded the No. 1 seed in the South region and dispatched Gardner-Webb and Oklahoma by healthy margins in the first two rounds in

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the city ...

. They advanced to a Sweet 16 matchup with Oregon and beat Oregon 53–49 to advance to their 2nd Elite 8 under Bennett. In the Elite Eight, they beat Purdue 80–75 in overtime to secure a trip to their first Final Four since 1984. On April 6, 2019, they defeated Auburn in their Final Four matchup by a score of 63–62 on 3 last-second free throws by

Kyle Guy Kyle Joseph Guy (born August 11, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Joventut Badalona of the Liga ACB. He played college basketball for the Virginia Cavaliers as a shooting guard for three years and was named the NCAA To ...

, cementing the program's first ever trip to the national championship game. On April 8, 2019, Virginia beat Texas Tech 85–77 in overtime, winning its first national championship.

Previous season

Unranked by the AP in the preseason poll, the

Cavaliers The term Cavalier () was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of King Charles I and his son Charles II of England during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration (1642 – ). It ...

surprisingly finished the 2017–18 season 31–3, and 17–1 in ACC play to win both ACC Regular Season and tournament titles. The Cavaliers received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 seed in the South region, where they were upset by No. 16

UMBC The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a public research university in Baltimore County, Maryland. It has a fall 2022 enrollment of 13,991 students, 61 undergraduate majors, over 92 graduate programs (38 master, 25 doctoral, ...

in the

first round First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

. This was the first and only time thus far in NCAA tournament history that a No. 1 seed was upset by a No. 16 seed.

Offseason

Virginia's offseason started on the night of March 16, 2018, and ended on the evening of November 6, 2018. The Cavaliers lost five players and gained four.

Departures

Incoming transfers

2018 recruiting class

Roster

Players

Coaching staff

Depth Chart

Schedule and results

Source: , - !colspan=12 style="", Non-conference regular season , - !colspan=12 style="", ACC Regular Season , - !colspan=12 style="", ACC Tournament , - !colspan=12 style="", NCAA tournament

Game summaries

Towson Tigers The Towson Tigers, formerly the ''Towson College Knights'', are the athletics teams of Towson University. All of the major athletic teams compete in the Colonial Athletic Association with 19 Division I athletic teams (13 in women's sports, 6 in ...
vs Virginia Cavaliers

Rankings

*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings
^Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll.

References

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:2018-19 Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball seasons

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball The Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team is the college basketball, intercollegiate men's basketball program representing the University of Virginia. The school competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference in NCAA Division I, Division I of the N ...

Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament championship seasons