UMBC @ Virginia preview

Top-seeded Virginia kicks off its pursuit of a national championship against Maryland-Baltimore County in the first round of the South Region on Friday at Charlotte, N.C. The Cavaliers are the clear No. 1 team in the country heading into the NCAA Tournament after capturing the ACC championship on Saturday, while the 16th-seeded Retrievers got into the tournament after a buzzer-beater win in the America East title game.

Virginia is fresh off one of the most dominant seasons in ACC history where it went 20-1 in the regular season and playoffs, capped off with a 71-63 win in the championship game over North Carolina on Saturday night. Kyle Guy had 16 points and Devon Hall added 15, but it was the vaunted "Pack Line" defense that came through when it mattered most, holding the Tar Heels scoreless for five minutes late in the second half as Virginia stretched its lead to nine with 3:32 remaining and held on for the third ACC championship in program history. UMBC made one of the more dramatic entrances to the tournament as senior Jairus Lyles nailed a long 3-pointer with less than a second remaining as the double-digit underdog Retrievers knocked off Vermont 65-62. "Win the game, that was all that was going through my head," Lyles told reporters after finishing with a game-high 27 points on 10-of-23 shooting.

TV: 9:20 p.m. ET, TNT

ABOUT MARYLAND-BALTIMORE COUNTY (24-10): Trailing by nine with 8:21 remaining, UMBC turned up the pressure on defense and didn't allow a field-goal for the rest of the game as it snapped a 23-game losing streak to Vermont that dated back 10 seasons. Lyles, the team's leading scorer at 20.2 points per game, also hit the game-tying three with 1:01 remaining and finished 5-of-7 from behind the arc. Backcourt mate K.J. Maura, the America East assists leader, had just two against Vermont but averaged 5.2 per game this season and was named to the America East All-Championship team.

ABOUT VIRGINIA (31-2): "This is one of the most connected groups I've ever coached," Virginia coach Tony Bennett told reporters as he accepted the ACC championship trophy on Saturday night, referring to a roster that doesn't have any one-and-dones or NBA lottery picks. Instead, the Cavaliers have developed a special chemistry that has led to the NCAA's best defense that gives up just 53.4 points per game, almost four fewer than the second-best team (Cincinnati). But Virginia can also score when it needs to, as it proved against North Carolina on Saturday when it shot 52.9 percent (9-for-17) from behind the 3-point line and went 20-of-22 from the free-throw line.

TIP-INS

1. UMBC makes its second appearance at the tournament, having lost 66-47 to Georgetown in 2008.

2. Virginia's 31 wins this season are a school record.

3. The Cavaliers led the ACC from the free-throw line at 75.8 percent.

PREDICTION: Virginia 62, UMBC 44