The Virginia basketball team climbed to 4-0 with a win against Illinois on Sunday. The 70-61 victory also secured the Continental Tire Main Event Championship for the Hoos. For a moment it looked like the Hoos might be letting the title slip away, though.

The Cavaliers entered the under 4 minute media timeout struggling on defense. The Illini, after all, scored on 6 of their 7 possessions prior to that timeout break with 3:38 to go. Virginia went from a 49-47 lead to a 56-58 deficit during that stretch as Illinois guard Jayden Epps hit 2 3-pointers and Dain Dainja led a surge on the offensive glass. Any way you look at it, the bottom line is the same: UVA couldn’t get consistent stops for nearly 5 minutes of action.

And that brought up the Hoos’ troubles closing out games last season. In a theme that essentially cost the Cavaliers an NCAA Tournament spot and eventually eliminated them in the NIT, Virginia repeatedly crumbled defensively late in games a year ago. That played a role in more than half of the season’s losses.

A look back shows how much of a problem stretch defense really was last season. Against Navy, UVA allowed scores on 4 of the final 7 possessions (including two layups on offensive rebounds) and lost 66-58 in a game that was tied at 55. Against Iowa, the Hoos allowed scores on 4 of the final 7 possessions again as the Hawkeyes won 75-74 with a bucket in the final 10 seconds. At JMU, the Cavaliers allowed scores on 4 of the final 6 possessions as the Dukes hit a go-ahead shot with 1:10 to go. Those were all in the non-conference schedule.

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