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ACC Tournament: No. 6 Virginia advances to first ACC title game in 20 years with win over Pitt

virginia pittsburgh

Tony Bennett’s Virginia team doesn’t win a lot of games with ease, but the No. 6 Cavaliers have found ways to methodically grind out wins throughout the entire season. Virginia did it once again on Saturday, as the Cavaliers held off upset-minded Pitt, 51-48, in an ACC Tournament semifinal contest in Greensboro.

Virginia (27-6) advanced to its first ACC title game since 1994 with the win as they still hold out hope for the fourth No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

RELATED: Get to know all of the NCAA Tournament’s automatic bids here.

The Cavaliers led for the final 21:45 of Saturday’s win over Pitt -- despite never leading by more than eight points -- as Virginia’s ball-control offense and steady team defense allowed them to slowly squeeze the Panthers out of the game.

Virginia shot 21-for-45 from the field (46 percent) and 6 of 7 from the free throw line as the Cavalier defense held Pitt to 36 percent shooting from the field.

Pitt freshman point guard James Robinson’s steal and tough, contested lay-up with 11 seconds left cut Virginia’s lead to a point at 49-48, but Anthony Gill made a pair of free throws to get to the final score. Bennett opted to have Virginia play defense instead of fouling on the final possession with his team up three and he was rewarded by reserve sophomore forward Justin Anderson blocking Robinson’s tying three-point attempt to seal the victory.

RELATED: Is your team in the field of 68? Check our latest Bracketology

Senior Joe Harris led Virginia with 12 points on the afternoon while Malcoln Brogdon (10 points) and Gill (10 points) also finished in double-figures.

Pitt (25-9) was led by Talib Zanna and Lamar Patterson, as the seniors each had 15 points in the loss.

Virginia isn’t the sexiest team to pick to go to the Final Four, but they’ve won 15 of their last 16 games -- with the overtime loss at Maryland last Sunday being their only loss -- and with their ability to hold on to the ball and take good shots, they make a five-point lead seem like a 15-point lead. As long as the Cavaliers can dictate the pace of the game and slow things down, they’ll be a very tough out in the tournament.

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