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By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com
 
CHARLOTTESVILLE – For the University of Virginia men’s basketball program, the focus is always on the next game, not on what might happen next week or next month. Still, head coach Tony Bennett is realistic. His players know UVA is in an enviable position as postseason approaches, and Bennett sees no point in trying to pretend otherwise with them.
 
There’s joy in pursuing a championship, Bennett has told his team, and the Cavaliers hope to celebrate several before the season ends.
 
“We’re absolutely hunting for three championships this year,” junior guard Kyle Guy said Saturday afternoon after second-ranked Virginia defeated Pittsburgh 73-49 at John Paul Jones Arena.
 
In 2017-18, the Wahoos swept the ACC’s regular-season and tournament titles. Virginia (26-2, 14-2) can clinch at least a share of a second straight regular-season championship – and lock up the No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament — with wins over Syracuse (Monday) and Louisville (next Saturday). The Cavaliers will head into the NCAA tournament with an attractive seed, too.
 
“It’s tough,” junior guard Ty Jerome said, “because you only want to focus on the next practice and the next game and go one game at a time. The next game is all that’s promised, it’s all you have, and looking too far ahead can get you in trouble.”
 
Jerome added, though, that “you set goals at the beginning of the year and you want to accomplish all of them. So, of course, this last stretch of the regular season is going to be extra fun, we’ll be extra amped-up, but one game at a time.”
 
The Cavaliers’ penultimate home game, not surprisingly, turned out to be one-sided. Pitt (12-17, 2-14) is in its first season under Jeff Capel, the former Duke assistant who also has been head coach at VCU and Oklahoma. Three of the Panthers’ top four scorers are freshmen, and this was their first game against UVA.
 
Pitt, which trailed 39-19 at halftime, shot only 38.6 percent from the floor Saturday. That happens against the Cavaliers’ Pack Line defense, which also came up with nine steals against Pitt.
 
“They’re a really good defensive team year in and year out,” Capel said. “It’s a staple of their program. It’s what it’s built on, and they do it as well as anyone. Certainly for us, having guys that haven’t seen it [was problematic] … We got some good looks. You just have to be able to knock down long-distance shots against them, or you have to have a freak of nature like [Duke freshman] Zion [Williamson].”
 
Virginia’s offense, meanwhile, operated with ruthless efficiency. The ‘Hoos shot 56.3 percent from 3-point range and 58.5 percent overall. Three Cavaliers scored in double figures – Guy (17 points), Jerome (13) and redshirt sophomore De’Andre Hunter (12) – and five others contributed at least five points each.
 
“I think they have three really elite players in Guy, Jerome and Hunter,” Capel said, “and then they surround them with other guys that are good and experienced.”
 
UVA’s only losses this season were to Duke. The Cavaliers have reached the 26-win mark for the fifth time in the past six seasons.
 
“What I told our team afterwards was, ‘This is what elite looks like, and it’s what we aspire to get to,’ ” Capel said at his postgame press conference. “And it’s not just their defense or just their offense, or their good players. They don’t take a play off. They understand that every possession is important. There’s accountability enforced by the players, not just by the coaching staff. … Playing against them is very difficult. Watching them, it’s beautiful to watch defensively.”
 
With Virginia in control, Bennett had the luxury of resting his starters for much of the second half. No Cavalier logged as many as 30 minutes Saturday, and Guy (25:03) and Jerome (24:28) each registered a season low in minutes.
 
“They did the job early and then to start the second half,” Bennett said, “and it was a way to also reward the guys who work hard in practice.”
 
Jerome shook his head and smiled when asked if he was happy to get a break.
 
“The competitor in me just wants to play,” Jerome said. “I look forward to games all week. The game is the best part of life, but of course [sitting out] will pay off. We have a quick turnaround and play on Monday again, so any time we can get rest it’s definitely beneficial.”
 
Guy, who hit five 3-pointers against Pitt, agreed. “I’m a competitor, and so is everybody else on the team, but at the end of the day you’ve got to play it smart.”
 
LITTLE BIG MAN: In his second straight start, UVA freshman Kihei Clark impressed again. A 5-9 point guard from Los Angeles, Clark totaled six points, four assists, three rebounds, two steals, and no turnovers. He made both of his field-goal attempts and both of his free throws.
 
Clark also hounded Pitt freshman Xavier Johnson, who came in averaging a team-high 16.5 points per game. Johnson was 0 for 7 from the floor Saturday.
 
“That was quick on quick when you’re talking about Xavier Johnson and Kihei going at it,” Bennett said. “Those are two quick guys. I thought Kihei really set the tone for us, first defensively and then with his ball security, touching the paint, finding some guys. I thought he ignited our defense, for sure.”
 
In his past seven games, Clark has totaled 20 assists and only three turnovers.
 
“Being a point guard, you can’t turn the ball over,” he said.
 
Few things please Bennett more than tenacious defense, and with 14:03 left in the first half Saturday, Clark stepped in front of the driving Johnson and took a charge. That elicited a fist pump from Bennett, whose reaction did not escape Clark’s notice.
 
“It feels good,” Clark said. “I’m just doing my job, though. When I’m picking up the ball and I’m playing good defense like that, I know the guys behind me are right there to help me when I do break down.”
 
SELFLESS: In his second-to-last game at JPJ, Virginia’s only senior, center Jack Salt, started but played only seven minutes and 38 seconds.
 
“His back was bothering him,” Bennett said. “I want him to be as healthy [as possible], because he gives us such a physical presence. I could just tell by the way he was moving in the second half. If we didn’t need to, I didn’t want to use him.”
 
Salt, a 6-10, 250-pound fifth-year senior from New Zealand, is as respected as any player on the team.
 
“I think this year Jack’s been asked to do something that not many people are asked to do,” Jerome said. “He doesn’t know going into a game how many minutes he’s going to get or if he’s going to even take one shot during the game, and his attitude never changes.
 
“He’ll give 110 percent for us every single possession, and that’s something you don’t see in almost any other guy in the country. If you ask them to play 30 minutes one game and five minutes the next, I don’t know if any other guy in the country will give you their all, and he does. He continues to lead every day. He continues to fight through back pain. He’s a warrior, and I’ll go to battle with him every day.”
 
Guy said: “He’s a very vital piece to this, on and off the court, in practice and in games. He exhibits the most unselfishness out of anybody on the team, and he knows his role. He knows whatever it takes to win is what he’s happy with.”
 
THEY SAID IT: The victory was the Cavaliers’ fourth straight over Pitt and stretched their series lead to 15-4. Among the postgame comments:
 
* Bennett: “I thought we were locked in defensively and obviously moved the ball and played the right way [on offense, too].”
 
* Bennett on facing Syracuse and its famed 2-3 zone in what will be UVA’s third appearance in four weeks on ESPN’S Big Monday showcase coming off a Saturday game: “You’re going to have to be able to knock down some shots, get on the glass, get the ball at the right spots, take care of the ball, and play the heck out of the defense. That formula hasn’t changed. It really challenges you, and [with] the short turnaround, that’s the challenge and the opportunity that you have.”
 
* Jerome on the quick turnaround: “It’s definitely challenging, and we have a great strength coach and a great [athletic] trainer and great coaches who [make sure] our bodies recover. But once you step on the court, you’re so excited and so ready to go that everything else is kind of out the window.” 
 
WINDING DOWN: UVA meets Syracuse (19-10, 10-6) at the Carrier Dome at 7 p.m. and then closes the regular season against Louisville (18-11, 9-7) at JPJ next Saturday at 4 p.m. ESPN will televise both games.
 
Syracuse romped Saturday afternoon at Wake Forest.
 
The ‘Hoos have won five of their past seven games with the Orange and lead the series 7-5.
 
UVA has won eight straight over Louisville. When the teams met Feb. 23 at the KFC Yum! Center, the Cavaliers rallied for a 64-52 victory.