Trending Now

1:49

It's a streak: Caps and Wizards win a combined 6 in a row

0:52

Ovechkin scores second of Game 6 to take two-goal lead

0:45

Bradley Beal's sixth foul: Did he really deserve it?

0:26

Perfect Caps-Pens video to pump fans up for 2018 series

0:45

Game 6 Preview: Capitals need to maintain momentum

Virginia earned a berth to the 2018 NCAA Tournament after dominating the ACC, winning the regular season outright and tournament championships. For the last half of the season, they were ranked No. 1 overall in the AP Top 25 and yielded only two losses the entire year. As a result they took the tournaments overall No. 1 seed and will face No. 16 seed UMBC.

With a slow pace and grind it out style of defense, the Cavaliers lead the NCAA in points allowed at 53.4 points per game. Many demise the philosophy of the Cavaliers, but it has been a theme of Tony Bennett coached teams since he took over the program.

The Retrievers won the America East tournament title in dramatic fashion over Vermont to clinch their spot in the dance. Led by Jairus Lyles, who has four 30-point performances on the season, UMBC is back in the Tournament for the first time since 2008.

Virginia has bowed out of the tournament earlier than expected in the past few seasons with only an Elite Eight performance to show in this era of Cavalier basketball.  While it is not anticipated the Cavaliers will be the first No. 1 seed to fall to a No. 16 seed, there is reason to question how far they will make it in this year’s dance.

Virginia and UNC UMBC will match up on Friday in Charlotte, NC. 

Here is the NCAA Tournament information:

RELATED: PRINTABLE NCAA TOURNAMENT BRACKET

Virginia vs. UMBC How to Watch

What: 2018 NCAA Tournament First Round, South Region

Who: No. 1 Virginia (31-2, 17-1 ACC) vs. UMBC (24-10, 12-4 America East)

When: 9:20 p.m. ET on Friday, March 16.

Where: Spectrum Center, Charlotte, North Carolina

TV Channel: TNT

Online Stream:  March Madness Live on NCAA.com

TV Announcers: Jim Nantz (play-by-play), Grant Hill (analyst), Bill Raftery (analyst), Tracy Wolfson (reporter)

Twitter: @UVAMensHoops, @UMBC_MBB

RELATED: WIN COURTSIDE SEATS IN NBC SPORTS WASHINGTON’S BRACKET CHALLENGE

Virginia vs. UMBC Bracket Analysis

How They Got Here: Virginia (Auto-bid, ACC Champions), UMBC (Auto-bid, America East Champions)

Previous Meeting: 2005. Virginia 77, UMBC 66

Next Round: Winner of No. 8 Creighton vs. No. 9 Kansas State

South Region Bracket:

No. 1 Virginia vs. No. 16 UMBC
No. 8 Creighton vs. No. 9 Kansas State

No. 5 Kentucky vs. No. 12 Davidson
No. 4 Arizona vs. No. 13 Buffalo

No. 6 Miami (Fla.) vs. No. 11 Loyola Chicago
No. 3 Tennessee vs. No. 14 Wright State

No. 7 Nevada vs. No. 10 Texas
No. 2 Cincinnati vs. No. 15 Georgia State

Virginia vs. UMBC Betting Spread, Lines & Odds

Favorites: Virginia -23
Over/Under: 121.5
Money Line: N/A
Against The Spread: Virginia is 20-9-1 ATS this season. UMBC is 4-1 ATS.

Enter the NBC Sports Washington Bracket Challenge presented by ChasenBoscolo and compete against Tony Massenburg and Walt Williams for a chance to win big.

Trending Now

1:49

It's a streak: Caps and Wizards win a combined 6 in a row

0:52

Ovechkin scores second of Game 6 to take two-goal lead

0:45

Bradley Beal's sixth foul: Did he really deserve it?

0:26

Perfect Caps-Pens video to pump fans up for 2018 series

0:45

Game 6 Preview: Capitals need to maintain momentum

The pieces are starting to come together for Patrick Ewing.

On Monday the Georgetown Hoyas picked up perhaps the biggest (literally and figuratively) target of the transfer market, Omer Yurtseven.

From North Carolina State, the transfer from Istanbul Turkey will have two years remaining of eligibility. Due to NCAA transfer rules, he is not allowed to play for the 2018-19 season.

MORE NCAA: TOP BUZZER BEATERS IN NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY

Standing at 7-0, the center helped power the Wolfpack to an NCAA tournament bid this past season. Averaging 13.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks a contest, Yurstseven earned All-ACC Third Team honors in the 2017-18 season. He also touted a 58.3 shooting percentage and was not afraid to pull it up from deep either (22 made three-pointers).

NC State lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to No. 8 Seton Hall, but he was limited due to foul trouble with only two points and two rebounds in 14 minutes of play.

Initially, he is the option to fill the void that Jessie Govan will leave, whether that is during this offseason or next. Already the team has lost power forward Marcus Derrickson

Yurtseven will just be another frontcourt talent for Ewing with the Hoyas.

Omer Yurtseven to ESPN on why he chose to transfer to Georgetown: “I needed a big man coach and I don't think anybody is better than Patrick Ewing when it comes to the experience he has as a player."

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) April 16, 2018

It was widely reported that he was considering playing options, both in the United States and abroad before this announcement. Easily he has the talent to go in first round of the NBA Draft whichever year he declares.

On the same day, the Hoyas also announced the signing of four-star guard James Akinjo.

Trending Now

1:49

It's a streak: Caps and Wizards win a combined 6 in a row

0:52

Ovechkin scores second of Game 6 to take two-goal lead

0:45

Bradley Beal's sixth foul: Did he really deserve it?

0:26

Perfect Caps-Pens video to pump fans up for 2018 series

0:45

Game 6 Preview: Capitals need to maintain momentum

SAN ANTONIO -- Virginia coach Tony Bennett isn't going to waver from his foundation, whether it's the philosophy that built the Cavaliers into a contender or the big-picture perspective that helps him handle the sting of a historically improbable loss.

Both ends of that approach are fully on display now as he is named The Associated Press men's college basketball coach of the year.

Bennett won the honor Thursday after his Cavaliers set a program single-season record for wins, dominated the Atlantic Coast Conference and reached No. 1 in the AP Top 25 for the first time since the Ralph Sampson era. Yet that wildly successful season ended abruptly in the most unexpected way: with the Cavaliers falling to UMBC to become the first No. 1 seed to lose to a 16-seed in NCAA Tournament history.

"They experienced things a lot of guys don't," Bennett said in an interview with the AP. "That kind of success? Oh my gosh. And then that kind of loss? ... But again, their body of work deserves to be celebrated.

"And then so much of what society looks at -- it begs the question -- is it just about how you do in March? Or is it about the whole thing? It's a fair debate (on) what matters. But I told them: I wouldn't trade this team for anything. Even the experiences, as hard as they are, this is part of the process."

Bennett was the runaway winner for the award, which is being presented at the Final Four. He earned 50 of 65 votes from AP Top 25 writers with ballots submitted before the start of the NCAA Tournament.

Tennessee's Rick Barnes was second with five votes after leading the Volunteers to 26 wins and an NCAA bid despite being picked to finish 13th in the 14-team Southeastern Conference. First-year Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann was third with four votes.

This marks the second time Bennett has won the award, the other coming in 2007 when he was at Washington State.

In Bennett's ninth season, the Cavaliers (31-3) went from being picked to finish sixth in the ACC to winning the regular-season race by four games -- the first to win the ACC by that wide a margin since 2000. It then won the ACC Tournament to complete a 20-1 run against league opponents.

MORE NCAA: BEST BUZZER BEATERS IN NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY

Virginia also reached No. 1 in the AP Top 25 for the first time since December 1982 and stayed there the final five weeks of the regular season, the last two unanimously.

And yet, the 48-year-old coach knows much of the focus will be on how things ended: that 74-54 loss to the Retrievers while playing without ACC sixth man of the year De'Andre Hunter.

Dealing with a roster of players in pained disbelief, Bennett said he has told them that they have "an unbelievable captive audience" waiting to see how they would handle it.

"I said how you respond to this will matter to your mom and dads, to your brothers, your sisters, your friends," Bennett said. "If they see that you're not fake about it, that yeah, of course you're going to be discouraged and down after a loss like that, but that you're OK. You can live with it.

"I said: you don't know the power that that's going to have in their life and in your life."

Bennett said he appreciated other coaches offering support, which included Syracuse Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim noting: "If I could hire a coach in this country and I could get Tony Bennett, there would be nobody in second place."

He said he's still reviewing what worked and what didn't, but "certainly you don't overreact" by changing everything that had brought the Cavaliers to this point.

This is, after all, a program that has been a 1-seed three times in the past five seasons with three ACC regular-season titles.

And Bennett won't be deterred from chasing more, even if it means stumbling a few more times on the way to reaching his goals.

"You better have something beyond the opinion of man or just how you feel, because this stuff is fleeting," Bennett said.

"So that's where obviously my faith is everything to me. You hear people talk about their faith in the lord and the relationship with the people that they care about, their family and their trusted friends. Those things stand the test of time. And that's what you have to draw from. And then you move on."