Hope is a fickle thing. There hasn’t been much of it this season for Virginia. But there it was, suffusing the hearts of Wahoo fans, as Virginia built a 27-8 lead over Louisville in the first 14 minutes. 

Virginia’s been jogging on a treadmill all season. The speed setting has fluctuated wildly, jolting the Hoos and threatening to throw them off. But they’ve clung to the treadmill’s handles with a sweaty grip, strained fingertips keeping them from being sucked off the back. The treadmill’s convulsions have become too much for the tiring Hoos. A loss to NC State sent them tumbling to the floor, effectively eliminated from NCAA Tournament at-large bid contention.  A similar story has unfolded across the border in Kentucky, where Louisville’s season has sunken into disrepair. An air of malaise is setting in around both teams. But one squad will at least find some solace in earning a win.

The Virginia basketball program has had some great teams over the past decade. Teams that have won ACC regular-season championships, ACC Tournament championships and in 2019, the National Championship. Those teams have won against good opponents or bad, in JPJ or Cameron Indoor, on hot shooting nights and cold ones. This is not one of those teams. Not even remotely close, as it turns out. This Virginia team all but cemented its legacy as one of the worst in the Bennett era by losing, 77-63, to North Carolina State. The Hoos were drowned by a torrent of Wolfpack threes. Although Virginia answered with plenty of their own (NC State made 12, Virginia 10), it wasn’t nearly enough to stay in the game. Virginia sank beneath the waves, overwhelmed by an opponent that played what was probably its best game of the season to date. With the loss, Virginia moves to 11-8 on the season and 5-4 in the ACC. The Hoos seem to be falling to pieces at a time when they need to be gluing those pieces back together. Here are three takeaways.

After defeating Pittsburgh on Wednesday, Virginia will journey to NC State for the second half of a two-game road trip.

Jayden Gardner grimaced as he peeled himself off the floor, rubbing his chin. The Virginia forward had just been clubbed on the chin in what was later ruled a flagrant foul. He got up, walked it off, and resumed play looking only slightly worse for the wear.  As the game wore on, the blow would be repeated. Loose elbows from Pittsburgh players caught Gardner on the chin on more than a few occasions. But he continued marching stolidly on, even after bearing enough chin-hits to send a pro boxer reeling back to his corner. Gardner kept on fighting, weathering the storm on his way to 14 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.

The rollercoaster of Virginia’s season has taken some particularly sharp turns as of late. After a jerky launch from the loading dock, the ride flattened for a spell but is now back to tossing the Hoos around like an accelerating car does a bag of groceries. In the last 10 days alone, Virginia was blown out by North Carolina, fought to victory against Virginia Tech and collapsed late against Wake Forest. But the scheduling gods have gifted Virginia an opportunity to climb out of the pit. The Hoos will travel to Pittsburgh for a meeting with the worst team in the ACC. For a Virginia team that is sliding down both the ACC standings and the list of teams with a shot to make the NCAA Tournament, this is a must-win game. It doesn’t get any easier than Pitt, even in a weak ACC.

On a night where Virginia shot 36% from the floor and missed 17 of 23 layup attempts, the Hoos failed to close out visiting Wake Forest. With 10 minutes to play, Virginia led by 7, but crumbled down the stretch and ultimately lost 63-55. Despite some early miscues, Virginia dominated the majority of the game’s opening 30 minutes. The last 10 were a different story. By the time the game concluded, the last vestiges of good play had flitted away into the rafters at JPJ. It was a frustrating loss for a team that came into the game with momentum and hope. Now, Virginia will be left to pick up the pieces and try to reassemble them for the next game. Here are three takeaways.

Virginia edged Virginia Tech in a riveting rivalry game on Wednesday, bagging their fourth win of ACC play in the process. They’ll play for number five against Wake Forest, hoping to conclude a two-game home stand with a victory. As usual, Tony Bennett is working magic in hauling a foundering team out of the depths to a 10-6 record. The road ahead is a long, windy one, but Virginia must take it one step at a time. 

A fanbase held its breath as the ball began its flight toward the hoop. The buzzer sounded as it reached the apex of its parabola, and now there was nothing anybody could do to change the outcome of the game. Virginia led by two, but the Wahoo players stood helpless, the ball floating out of reach above their heads. A game hung in the balance. If the shot found nylon, Virginia Tech would edge past Virginia and sink the Hoos into a two-game losing streak. If it missed, Virginia would claim victory and send its rival reeling into an 0-4 ACC record. It missed.  Virginia fans heaved a sigh of relief. Their team had rallied from a 4-point deficit over the last three minutes, ending the game on a 6-0 run. The Hoos had battled the whole way through, displaying grit and mental toughness to power through the ebbs and flows of a charged rivalry game. At the end, smiles radiated from the players, exuberant high-fives were exchanged and the Hoos bounded back to the locker room one win richer. It was an important one. Virginia improved to 10-6 on the season and 4-2 in the ACC with the win. They cemented themselves as a team firmly on the NCAA Tournament bubble, if not quite ready to break into the field of 68. And perhaps most important of all, they rebounded from a demoralizing loss to North Carolina. Here are three takeaways from the win.