Virginia vs. Miami-Florida
Free Pick: Virginia +6 -110 odds
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Virginia was supposed to be in major rebuilding mode this season. It was going to take new head coach Tony Bennett a couple of years to implement his style of play with the players needed to run his system. But the Cavaliers got off to a very fast start; they opened the season at 12-4 and appeared to be a real surprise team in the ACC.

Bennett prefers to play a slow, half-court game which is one of the main reasons why his Cavaliers got off to such a fast start. Teams in the ACC are not used to playing in the half-court; the majority of the league wants to run and play as fast as possible. And Virginia had a lot of success early in conference play as their opponents were unfamiliar with the Cavs’ style of play.

Virginia beat Miami in the first meeting by 18 points (75-57). The Cavaliers frustrated the Canes in the half-court, and simply took them away from what they want to do. And that has been the way to beat Miami this season. In games in which they’ve played the slower teams and forced to play in the half-court, the Hurricanes are just 5-7 this year. Of those five wins, three of the wins came by 5 points or less. Miami’s 17-9 record is also misleading as they went 15-1 against a very weak non-conference schedule. Since then, the Canes are just 2-8 with the two wins coming by 7 and 2 points.

What keeps Virginia from being a stronger selection is the fact that they are not in good current form at all. The Cavs have lost 5 straight games and 7 of their last 10 overall. They’ve gone two weeks without a win, and with them being just 3-7 on the road, we just cannot trust them enough right now, especially with this quote by head coach Bennett. “We’ve tried to mix lineups a couple times, certainly when you’re struggling you try to come up with a different approach,” Bennett said. “This is part of rebuilding. We had a real solid start; this is the hard part you have to go through. It’s a reality check.”

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