For the second consecutive week, the Virginia men’s basketball program sits atop the Associated Press Top 25.
Virginia, which defeated Miami on the road in its only game last week, received 42 first-place votes in the latest AP Top 25, up from 30 first-place votes last week. No. 2 Michigan State, which handily defeated Minnesota on February 13 but had to rally from 27 points down to beat Northwestern last Saturday, received 19 first-place votes, down two from the previous week.
No. 3 Villanova, fresh off its road victory over No. 4 Xavier, picked up four first-place votes. Duke comes in at No. 5, moving up seven spots from a week ago. Texas Tech, Gonzaga, Kansas, Purdue, and North Carolina round out the AP Top 10. Clemson (No. 15) and Florida State (No. 25) are the two other Atlantic Coast Conference teams on this list, which you can see in full by clicking here.
Hoos Can Clinch Outright ACC Title This Week
No. 1 Virginia has two conference game this week – a home contest versus Georgia Tech on February 21 followed by a road game against Pittsburgh on Saturday, February 24. One victory earns the Cavaliers a share of the ACC regular season title and secures the No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament. With two wins, UVA clinches the ACC regular season crown outright.
“With this league and the depth and the amount of games, that’d be a tremendous thing to do,” Bennett said on his weekly ACC teleconference. “To have that opportunity at this stage with some games left is really good.”
Time Off
Virginia last took the court against Miami last Tuesday, February 13, and won’t take the court again until February 21. Coach Bennett, who gave his team two days off following the win over the Hurricanes, is hopeful this long break will be benefit his team.
“I think you try to use the week off to the best of your abilities and take advantage,” Bennett said. “You get a little more time off and prepare the right way. I think it was a good time for us to, again, let some guys refresh their bodies and heal up a little bit, and then get back to work preparing for Georgia Tech here in a couple days.”
Sophomore point guard Ty Jerome has played the past two games with wrapping on his right hand because of a sprained thumb. The good? He has only turned the ball over three times while dishing out 11 assists. The bad? Jerome is only 5-of-19 from the field, including 1-of-12 from beyond the arc, in those two contests.
Coach Bennett says Jerome has continued to wear the wrapping during practice and told media in the video below the New York native has “looked okay in practice.” During the ACC teleconference, Bennett didn’t dismiss the possibility of Jerome wearing the wrapping for an extended period if he “likes the stability of it.”
Kyle Guy’s Big Weekend
Sophomore guard Kyle Guy used the time off to the fullest, by proposing to his girlfriend last weekend. She said yes.
“Congrats obviously to Kyle,” Bennett said during the ACC teleconference. “He had told me that was something he was going to do. I just said, ‘How sure are you, on a scale of 1-10, she’s gonna say yes, ‘cause that’s really important in that scenario,’ so … He felt very confident. Good for them. Every man in his heart knows when it’s the right time. He felt that it was the right time, so I’m so happy and thankful that she said yes and they’re in a good place.”
Coach Bennett discussed Guy’s proposal at-length as well in the video above, revealing that, perhaps, the staff owes an assist to Guy’s fiancée in getting the 2016 McDonald’s All-American to UVA.
Hunter ACC Co-Rookie of the Week
De’Andre Hunter was named ACC Co-Rookie of the Week for his 22-point performance against Miami. The 6’7”, 222-pound redshirt freshman sensation out of Philly has been a huge spark for the Hoos off the bench, tallying 12 double-digit scoring performances this season. He is averaging 8.9 points per game while averaging 19.3 minutes per game.
Badocchi on ‘Coach’s Corner’
Many Virginia fans have wondered about the progress of 6’7” freshman Francesco Badocchi, who is redshirting this season. The Milan, Italy native and Bishop Miege (Mission Viejo, KS) grad appeared on the February 19 “Coach’s Corner” with head coach Tony Bennett.
Badocchi said he is 100-percent after undergoing surgery when he arrived on Grounds last summer. Bennett says the standout forward has really helped in practice recently. Bennett called Badocchi a “hidden gem” the staff was “fortunate” to add late in the 2017 recruiting class. Bennett also called Badocchi “very athletic,” adding that Cavalier fans will be “excited to see him.”
Click here to see Badocchi’s appearance on ‘Coach’s Corner” livestreamed on Facebook. He appears around the 29:40 mark of the program.
