Virginia hoping to nail down ACC’s No. 6 seed at Louisville today

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Tony Bennett won’t waste any time wondering what Louisville team will show up for today’s noon showdown on the road (ESPN2).

Will it be the Louisville team that will salute four seniors playing for pride in their last home game or the team that has lost 13 of its last 15 games? Bennett will be more concerned on how his team performs in its regular-season finale before heading to Brooklyn for next week’s ACC Tournament.

The Cavaliers, 17-12 overall, 11-8 in the ACC, face a highly improbable task to qualify for their eighth-consecutive NCAA tournament. Analysts believe UVA will have to win the ACC tournament in order to be included in the Big Dance. Otherwise, it’s an NIT destiny.

Virginia could get a jumpstart for Brooklyn with a win today against a struggling Louisville team that is 12-17 overall, 6-13 ACC. The Cardinals are coming off a 75-43 loss at Virginia Tech a few nights ago, and a 99-77 defeat to Wake Forest last weekend, when they trailed by as much as 32 points in that game.

“I don’t think the guys have quit, I just think that they’re broken right now and their confidence is low,” said interim coach Mike Pegues, who took over the program when Chris Mack was fired after coaching his last game against Virginia in Charlottesville.

After Louisville lost at Virginia Tech, Pegues said his team is playing for pride at this point, and that “their spirit is broken.”

If Virginia can win this afternoon, it will lock down the No. 6 seed in next week’s tournament in Brooklyn and give the Cavaliers 12 or more ACC wins for the fourth-straight year. The Wahoos cannot finish any lower than the No. 7 seed in the ACC bracket.

UVA has won five of its last eight games, but took a big step backward with a last-second home loss to Florida State last Saturday. Coach Tony Bennett’s team hasn’t played since that loss, so should be fresh heading into today’s game.

Louisville will say goodbye to four seniors: Noah Locke, Jarrod West, Mason Faulkner and Malik Williams. Williams, who is the only player in program history to be elected captain three times, is expected to start today even though he has been suspended twice in the past month for what Pegues described as “failure to meet expectations of a team captain.”

Virginia is a 3-point favorite according to Vegas Insider.