2023–24 Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team
The 2023–24 Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team represented the University of Virginia during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Tony Bennett in his 15th year, and played their home games at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia, as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
| 2023–24 Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball | |
|---|---|
NCAA tournament, First Four | |
| Conference | Atlantic Coast Conference |
| Record | 23–11 (13–7 ACC) |
| Head coach |
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| Associate head coach | Jason Williford (15th season) |
| Assistant coaches |
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| Offensive scheme | Blocker-Mover |
| Base defense | Pack-Line |
| Home arena | John Paul Jones Arena |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 7 North Carolina | 17 | – | 3 | .850 | 29 | – | 8 | .784 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 9 Duke | 15 | – | 5 | .750 | 27 | – | 9 | .750 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Virginia | 13 | – | 7 | .650 | 23 | – | 11 | .676 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pittsburgh | 12 | – | 8 | .600 | 22 | – | 11 | .667 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wake Forest | 11 | – | 9 | .550 | 21 | – | 14 | .600 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 14 Clemson | 11 | – | 9 | .550 | 24 | – | 12 | .667 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Syracuse | 11 | – | 9 | .550 | 20 | – | 12 | .625 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Virginia Tech | 10 | – | 10 | .500 | 19 | – | 15 | .559 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Florida State | 10 | – | 10 | .500 | 17 | – | 16 | .515 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 10 NC State † | 9 | – | 11 | .450 | 26 | – | 15 | .634 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boston College | 8 | – | 12 | .400 | 20 | – | 16 | .556 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notre Dame | 7 | – | 13 | .350 | 13 | – | 20 | .394 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Georgia Tech | 7 | – | 13 | .350 | 14 | – | 18 | .438 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Miami (FL) | 6 | – | 14 | .300 | 15 | – | 17 | .469 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Louisville | 3 | – | 17 | .150 | 8 | – | 24 | .250 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2024 ACC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Cavaliers started the season with four straight wins and earned themselves the twenty-fourth spot in the AP Rankings to start the season. They lost the opening game of the Fort Myers Tip-Off to Wisconsin and rebounded to defeat West Virginia in the third place game. The win wasn't enought to keep them in the rankings, as they fell out ahead of their ACC–SEC Challenge matchup with fourteenth ranked Texas A&M. They won that match and two more matches to return to the rankings at number twenty-two. They went 1–1 as the 22nd ranked team, losing to twenty-third ranked Memphis before falling out again. The Cavaliers then lost three of their next four ACC games, with the lone win coming against struggling Louisville. A rivalry win over Virginia Tech sparked an eight game winning streak for the Cavaliers as they also defeated NC State in overtime and Clemson during the stretch. They again returned to the rankings at number twenty-one. They lost to Pittsburgh and won a low scoring game against Wake Forest before falling out of the rankings again. The Cavaliers finished out the season 2–3 losing a rivaly rematch to Virginia Tech and to North Carolina and Duke, who were both ranked tenth at the time of the matchup.
The Cavaliers finished the season 23–11 and 13–7 in ACC play to finish in third place. As the third seed in the ACC tournament, they earned a bye to the Quarterfinals where defeated third seed Boston College in overtime before losing to eventual champions NC State in overtime in the Semifinals. They earned a controversial at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and were placed as a tenth seed in the First Four in the Midwest region. They lost their matchup with Colorado State 42–67 to end their season. After the game, Virginia was widely criticized for its offensive performance, which included a stretch of nearly 14 minutes of game time and nearly an hour of real time during which they did not score.