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.

Virginia’s ACC Tournament came to an end Friday night, as No. 4 seed Florida State out-toughed, out-hustled, and bottom line outplayed the top-seeded Cavaliers, 69-59, in the semifinals at the Spectrum Center.

Two of the conference’s hottest teams square off tonight in the ACC Tournament semifinals at 7 p.m. in Charlotte, as Virginia faces 12th-ranked and fourth-seeded Florida State, a team the Cavaliers knocked off by 13 back in early January in the conference opener.

When Thursday afternoon’s “Cavalanche” came, it caught upset-minded NC State completely by surprise.

No. 1 seed Virginia got a career high from senior big man Jack Salt, a near-record performance from junior sharpshooter Kyle Guy, and cruised to a 76-56 win over No. 8 NC State Thursday in the ACC Tournament quarterfinal round at the Spectrum Center.