Almost every time Tony Bennett is asked about his smallest player, the Virginia coach has this twinkle in his eyes.At 5-foot-9, Kihei Clark is not an imposing figure in a library, let alone on a basketball court where he is towered over by most everyone else. The smallest man on the floor produced some of the biggest numbers in the Cavaliers win over Oregon in their Sweet Sixteen matchup Thursday night.

Virginia will square off against No. 3 seed Purdue at approximately 8:49 p.m. Saturday night in the South Region final for a spot in next week’s Final Four in Minneapolis. The Cavaliers (32-3) will try to get over the hump and into the final weekend for the third time in school history and first time since 1984.

When Tony Bennett called time out with 4:42 remaining in Thursday night’s — or rather Friday morning’s — Sweet Sixteen matchup against Oregon, Virginia had the Ducks exactly where it wanted them.

Virginia head coach Tony Bennett described Thursday night’s Sweet Sixteen battle with 12th-seeded Oregon as a “knuckle buster.” His top-seeded Cavaliers survived a valiant effort from one of the nation’s hottest teams, 53-49, to move onto the South Region championship game against No. 3 seed Purdue on Saturday at 8:49 p.m.

Virginia will look to take one step closer to its ultimate goal Thursday night in Louisville, as the top-seeded Cavaliers go up against No. 12 Oregon — one of the hottest teams in the country — in the South Region semifinals (tipoff approximately 10 p.m., TBS).

Oregon hasn’t lost a basketball game since Feb. 23, the last of a three-game, road losing streak when the Ducks admittedly played “bad,” according to coach Dana Altman.

Virginia arrived in Derby Town energized and loose for the challenge of the Sweet Sixteen.

When the confetti-covered Cavaliers were climbing the ladder to cut down the nets at Barclays Center in Brooklyn last March, the expanded Virginia basketball family was there to celebrate another ACC Tournament championship.

No team in college basketball history had endured what Virginia lived through the past 12 months, and that showed Friday night when the Cavaliers struggled for a half before taking care of business against yet another No. 16 seed, Gardner-Webb.

It’s on to the Sweet 16 as No. 1 Virginia got a huge spark on both ends of the floor from junior forward Mamadi Diakite as the Cavaliers built a comfortable lead in the first half and kept it up in the second to eliminate No. 9 Oklahoma, 63-51, in the NCAA Tournament’s South Region second round Sunday at Colonial Life Arena.

He heard all the whispers. Got it second-hand about the harsh criticism of his game on social media.Shouldn’t be starting. Opponents don’t guard him because he’s no threat to score. Can’t defend a taller shooter on the perimeter. On and on. You get the picture.

Virginia is through to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after a first-half scare from 16-seed Gardner-Webb Friday.

Oklahoma enters Sunday’s matchup with Virginia fresh off its hottest performance of the season, a 95-72 beatdown of No. 8 seed Mississippi in the opening round Friday.

For three long years, De’Andre Hunter has patiently waited to dance. When that wait ended Friday afternoon, Hunter danced his butt off.

When 16-seed Gardner-Webb took a 14-point lead in the first half of Friday’s NCAA Tournament matchup, Virginia fans were likely breaking a sweat, possibly uttering a few profanities here and there, thinking, “Not again.”

When Mark Jerome put a basketball in his tike’s hands for the first time, he began preaching a never-ending sermon about the most important part of the game.

Virginia begins the quest for its first NCAA Tournament title Friday against Big South Conference champion Gardner-Webb in Columbia, SC, at approximately 3:10 p.m. on truTV.

The difference in this Virginia basketball team and previous Tony Bennett squads has been the storehouse of offensive firepower.

A year removed from NCAA Tournament history, when Virginia became the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16, the Cavaliers will get a shot at redemption on Friday afternoon in Columbia, S.C., when they take on another unheralded No. 16 in Gardner-Webb.

Tony Bennett sat in the very same spot Friday night that he occupied last March when his Virginia team — the top-seeded team in the NCAA Tournament — fell prey to the madness.