More From Virginia | More From North Carolina | Highlights | Bracket | Quotes | Box & Play-By-Play | Game Graphic
NEW YORK (AP) -- Kyle Guy, Devon Hall and No. 1 Virginia completed one of the most successful seasons in the storied history of Atlantic Coast Conference basketball, beating No. 12 North Carolina 71-63 in the tournament championship game Saturday night to finish 20-1 against league competition.
The top-seeded Cavaliers (31-2) set a school record for victories and won the ACC Tournament for the second time in five seasons under coach Tony Bennett, and third time overall. With plenty of their fans packing Barclays Center in Brooklyn, the Cavaliers beat sixth-seeded North Carolina (25-10) for the second time this season and snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Tar Heels in ACC Tournament play.
Guy, the tournament MVP, scored 11 of his 16 points in the second half and Hall added 15 points, five rebounds and four assists. Ty Jerome had 12 points, six assists and six rebounds for Virginia, which will certainly enter the NCAA Tournament as the top overall seed.
Not bad for a bunch that started the season unranked and was picked to finish sixth in the ACC.
Virginia held the Tar Heels scoreless for five minutes and took a 58-49 lead on De'Andre Hunter's baseline fadeaway with 3:32 left. North Carolina snapped the drought with a 3-pointer by Luke Maye, who scored 20, but Jerome nailed a 3 out of a timeout to restore the nine-point lead.
UNC, playing in its record 35th ACC championship game, never got closer than five again as Virginia closed it out from the free throw line.
#ACCTourney Notes
The No. 1 seeded Cavaliers (31-2) claim their third New York Life ACC Tournament Championship and their second in the last five years under current head coach Tony Bennett.
Virginia is now 41-62 all-time in the ACC Tournament … Virginia also won the ACC Tournament title as the No. 6 seed in 1976 in Landover and as the No. 1 seed in 2014 in Greensboro.
North Carolina slipped to 100-46 in ACC Tournament play and remains tied with Duke for the most number of all-time tournament wins … UNC is 18-17 all-time in the ACC Tournament title game, 0-1 as a No. 6 seed.
The No. 1 seed is 3-5 all-time vs. the No. 6 team in the ACC Tournament.
Virginia’s 31 wins are a new program single-season record.
Virginia is now 3-6 all-time in the ACC Tournament championship game.
The No. 1 seed is 32-15 all-time in ACC Tournament title games … This is the third time that the No. 1 seed has beaten the No. 6 seed to claim the championship.
Virginia is 8-2 all-time as the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament.
The Cavaliers are 8-1 all-time at Barclays Center.
With tonight’s win Virginia is 2-0 versus North Carolina in 2017-18 after winning the regular-season meeting Jan. 6 in Charlottesville by a 61-49 score.
After compiling a 17-1 ACC regular-season record and sweeping three ACC Tournament games, the Cavaliers become the first team to post 20 wins against fellow ACC schools in a single season … North Carolina posted 19 such wins in 2016 (14 regular-season, three ACC Tournament, two NCAA).
This is the sixth time Virginia and UNC have played in the championship game … The Cavaliers won the first time they played in the finals (1976), and the Tar Heels won the next four (1977, 1982, 1994, 2016) prior to tonight.
The ACC Tournament has now gone seven consecutive years without a repeat champion (2012 – Florida State; 2013 – Miami; 2014 – Virginia; 2015 – Notre Dame; 2016 – North Carolina; 2017 – Duke; 2018 – Virginia).
With tonight’s win over the No. 12 Tar Heels, this year’s Virginia team has beaten five nationally-ranked opponents.
The Cavaliers ended a seven-game postseason losing streak versus UNC.
Virginia limited its 32nd opponent of the season to less than 50 percent shooting (UNC shot 40.8 percent), shot 20-of-22 from the foul line and committed just four turnovers.
ACC Tournament MVP Kyle Guy scored 15 points and handed out four assists … Guy has reached double-figures in 27 games and has connected on 83 shots from 3-point range this season … Guy averaged 16.7 points in Virginia’s three ACC Tournament games and went 9-for-17 from 3-point range.
Virginia senior Devon Hall led Virginia’s scoring with 16 points … Hall reached double figures for the 23rd time this year.
Virginia sophomore Ty Jerome (12 points) reached double figures for the 17th time this season and handed out a team-high six assists … Jerome had 20 assists in Virginia’s three ACC Tournament games.
North Carolina junior Luke Maye led all scorers with 20 points … Maye scored 15 of those points in the first half, which ended with Virginia in front 34-30 … The double-figure scoring game was Maye’s 28th of the season.
With 17 points, UNC senior guard Joel Berry II hit double-figures for the 29th time this season and the 91st time in his career.
Kenny Williams reached double figures for the fourth time in the ACC Tournament and for the 25th time this season with 12 points … UNC is 21-4 this year in games in which the junior guard has scored 10-or-more points.
The 18,157 fans in attendance for Saturday night’s New York Life ACC Tournament championship game tied the record for attendance at college basketball event at Barclays Center, set 24 hours earlier in the tournament’s semifinal session … The ACC broke its own record set during the semifinals and finals of the 2017 tournament at the arena.
2018 NEW YORK LIFE ACC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
FIRST TEAM
Kyle Guy, Virginia (MVP)
Devon Hall, Virginia
Theo Pinson, North Carolina
Luke Maye, North Carolina
Marvin Bagley III, Duke
SECOND TEAM
Ty Jerome, Virginia
Joel Berry II, North Carolina
Bonzie Colson, Notre Dame
Shelton Mitchell, Clemson
Ky Bowman, Boston College
