On Monday night, Tony Bennett’s No. 2 Virginia Cavaliers beat the Syracuse Orange 59-47 to win the school’s second-straight ACC regular season title. In doing so, UVA became the first non-Carolinas school to so. It’s a remarkable feat, but just don’t tell that to the team. They’re interested in more.

“We haven’t talked about [the record] as a staff or a program, but I’ve seen it,” Cavaliers associate head coach Ritchie McKay told TSN.ca.  “I think it was on the Bottom Line of the ESPN ticker, so my guess is that most of our guys are aware of it, but it wasn’t one of the goals we set out for at the beginning of the year. It certainly speaks to the quality of the players that we have and what they’ve achieved over the past couple of years.”

What they’ve achieved is the production of a fundamentally sound, well-oiled basketball machine. The team’s NCAA Tournament run ended in the Sweet 16 a year ago with a 61-59 loss to Michigan State. Thinking about that loss and the echelon of play the team was able to achieve last season has helped form the vision of this year’s edition.

“Coach Bennett is a dire competitor,” said McKay. “He’s always pursuing excellence. I think, really, the message [this season] was, let’s build on last year and see if we can’t get back to the stage that we finished at, that was the Sweet Sixteen and we fell to Michigan State. We felt like we were playing at a very high level and that was a really fun game to be a part of. That was a battle. I think we’d like to see if we can continue to go ahead this season and continue to try to play at the highest level, so I think we’re on course for that.”

UVA's only loss was a 69-63 decision to Duke on Jan. 31.

The Cavaliers, 17-1, play a smothering style of defence and utilize a possession-based offence that slows down the tempo on both ends. There are not a lot of high-scoring games when the team affectionately called the ‘Hoos by fans are playing. If you can appreciate a comprehensive game plan executed to perfection, then you can’t help but be impressed by Bennett’s team. If you’re looking for something a little bit flashier, then maybe Virginia basketball isn’t for you.

Still, McKay isn’t concerned with the perception that his team’s game isn’t exactly aesthetically pleasing.

“It’s different when there’s a perception or perspective from someone on the outside, who turns on the TV and watches us play,” McKay explained. “I can tell you that, if I was a guard and I knew what our system was like under Tony Bennett, I would want to come here in a heartbeat because our guards have such great freedom. I mean there’s really not a shot that they can’t take. We’ve just chosen to get a great shot for the betterment of our team. I think, defensively, we try to battle you. We really work hard to see if we can’t impose our defensive will on you and that, consequently, drives the tempo down because it’ll take a minute or two to score on us in some games.”

With the play of its guards so critical to Virginia’s success, the team has spent the last month without its second-leading scorer and, arguably, its most influential player in Justin Anderson. Anderson, a projected first-round pick in June’s NBA Draft, fractured his finger in a 52-47 win over Louisville on February 7. Averaging 13.4 points, 4.3 boards and 2.0 assists in 29.4 minutes a night, Anderson’s injury forced the ‘Hoos to utilize team depth to weather the storm with the 21-year-old sidelined, going 7-0 over that time.

“It’s a program for us, not just an individual player,” McKay explained of the team’s philosophy. “Justin’s had a phenomenal season and we’re a better team with Justin Anderson than without him. When you have a player like (junior forward) Evan Nolte or a youngster like (freshman guard and Ottawa native) Marial Shayok or (freshman guard) Devon Hall, we feel like we can at least get a guy to step into that role and add value in his own way.”

UVA is 7-0 in Justin Anderson's absence.

By virtue of finishing on top of the conference, Virginia will enter the ACC Tournament as its top seed and receives a bye into the quarter-final stage. McKay believes that the calibre of opposition is such that looking past the team’s first game would be folly and is well aware of the threat presented by lower-ranked opposition.

“I think that there are some teams that have been playing [particularly] well, but it’s the ACC,” explained McKay.  “NC State, they’re a team that can beat anyone on any court at any time. We have such a great level of respect for Clemson and the job that Brad [Bronwell] does there. There’s four Hall of Fame coaches in this league (Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim of Syracuse, UNC’s Roy Williams and Rick Pitino of Louisville) and a future one in Coach Bennett – I might be a little bit biased – so I don’t know if there’s anyone that would surprise me, but maybe if a really low seed ended up winning four days. I don’t know if that would happen in our league because of the strength of our conference at the top. But like every tournament, there will be some upsets and some eyebrows raised.”

The team knows well that another decent showing in the ACC Tournament – winning the whole thing probably isn’t necessary – will result in another top seeding for March Madness, but McKay and the rest of the ‘Hoos will cross that bridge when they get there and remain focused on Saturday night’s regular season finale and a date with No. 16 Louisville in Kentucky.

“We don’t talk about that stuff,” McKay said of a potential No. 1 seed. “We just try to focus on our next opponent, ourselves and trying to get better, trying to pursue higher levels of play. We didn’t talk about it last year and we ended up the No. 1 seed. I think everyone was excited because it came off of a regular season and an ACC Tournament championship. So I think what we’re looking at next is a very good Louisville team – when they play in the KFC Yum! Centre, they-re really good – and after that, the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament.”

The Cavaliers believe they have the personnel and the tools to improve on last year’s Tournament appearance, but that would only be part of what McKay would consider as success for his players.

“I think we’re about so much other than just winning,” McKay explained. “We feel like our players are growing as young men, as students and I think, athletically, we’re promoting their own improvements for their own individual goals, but I think all of us want to win as a team and see how far we can get. It’s unspoken, but obviously, we’d love to play [in the Sweet 16] again and have another crack it, but I think we’ll just take the next day as it comes. That’s kinda what we do and we’ll see success if everyone’s level [of it] is satisfied.”

The chance for Virginia to reach that level begins on March 12.

TSN will have LIVE coverage of the ACC Tournament beginning with the first quarterfinal on Thursday, March 12 at 12pm et/9am pt on TSN5 and concluding with ACC Tournament finals on Saturday, March 14 at 8:30pm et/5:30pm pt on TSN5.

TSN’s coverage of March Madness 2015 begins with the First Four play-in games beginning on Monday, March 17 on TSN2.