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They’re at it again.
This is the third time in Tony Bennett’s nine years his Virginia Cavaliers have led the ACC in field goal percentage defense. Through 20 games, anyway, 13 of them before supportive home crowds from which the players surely drew supportive energy.
We’ll see how things go the rest of the regular season, when the Cavs played six of their final 10 games on the road, all in the ACC, starting with Duke on Saturday.
Right now UVa has the nation’s top scoring defense (51.6), a strength we outlined recently, and trails only Michigan State in field goal percentage defense at .364. (MSU is at .353.)
Virginia’s current accuracy is eighth-best ever by an ACC team, second-best since 1960.
Only three of the previous 11 ACC squads that were best at suppressing opponents’ shooting finished first during the conference regular season, among them UVa in 2015. Two of the suffocating 11 finished with losing league marks.
| WHEN CAVALIER ISN’T EASYGOING Best Team Field Goal Percentage Defense in ACC History (2018 Through Games of Jan. 25) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opp FG% |
School | Year | ACC Finish | ACC Record |
| .320 | North Carolina | 1954 | Fifth | 5-6 |
| .334 | NC State | 1956 | First (tie) | 11-3 |
| .340 | Maryland | 1955 | Third | 10-4 |
| .346 | Maryland | 1958 | Fourth | 9-5 |
| .352 | North Carolina | 1957 | First | 14-0 |
| .360 | NC State | 1960 | Sixth | 5-9 |
| .363 | Florida State | 2011 | Third | 11-5 |
| .3636 | Virginia | 2018 | TBD | 8-0 |
| .3641 | Wake Forest | 1997 | Second (tie) | 11-5 |
| .367 | Virginia | 2015 | First | 16-2 |
| .377 | Florida State | 2010 | Third (tie) | 10-6 |
| .378 | Maryland | 2003 | Second (tie) | 11-5 |
