Tony Bennett knows what elite defensive basketball looks like. He knows it’s built over time, through a recipe of continuity and effort.

Bennett’s latest Virginia team lacked urgency early and had some late breakdowns in a season-opening loss at home to Navy. Two weeks later, that same core group held previously unbeaten Providence to a season-low 40 points in Tuesday’s 18-point win in Newark.

The Friars shot just 23.5 percent from the floor and made just three of their 22 3-point tries. Providence’s 12 field goals were the fewest against the Hoos since Maine made just eight shots from the floor in a loss at John Paul Jones Arena two seasons ago. After the Friars went on an 8-0 run midway through the second half to cut UVa’s lead to six, they were held to just four points and one field goal in the games final 10-plus minutes.

To fans, it was a vintage Virginia defensive performance. Providence coach Ed Cooley called it one of the best defensive efforts he’d seen in years.

To Bennett, it was simply a step in the right direction.

“Everybody seemed like they were on-point and connected,” he said after his team clinched the Roman Legends Classic with the victory, “and when your defense is connected like that and you’ve got some guys that can really pressure the ball, it can be effective.”

The Virginia coaching staff entered the season aware that it would take some time to find that cohesiveness. Bennett has called this group “probably the newest team I’ve coached.” The starting five for all six games has included fourth-year Kihei Clark and sophomore Reece Beekman in the back court, along with redshirt sophomore big man Kadin Shedrick—who entered the year with just 11 career games played—and a pair of transfers, guard Armaan Franklin and forward Jayden Gardner, who both arrived this off-season.

That lack of familiarity was on display in the season-opening loss to Navy. It was exposed again last week by No. 15 Houston, who shot a season-high 55 percent from behind the 3-point line in a 20-point win. The Cougars had little trouble shooting over the UVa defense and, like Navy in the opener, capitalized on just about every defensive breakdown by the Wahoos.

“They punched us in the mouth, as they say. And that was hard,” Bennett said. “But we grew from it. Same with the Navy game.”

In their three straight wins since the loss at Houston, the Hoos have given up an average of 49 points. Those three opponents have shot a combined 30.6 percent from the floor, and just 19.5 percent on 3-pointers.

Given Bennett’s defense-first philosophy, it’s no surprise that improvement has come more rapidly at that end for this year’s team.

“We’re gonna demand it and hold you accountable,” Bennett said. “And that saying, ‘It’s not what you teach; it’s what you emphasize.’ We try to emphasize it and do a good job and make our deposits daily so that we get better and better.”

In Newark, the Hoos held Georgia to just 21 points in the second half, then followed that performance by limiting Providence to just 15 before halftime.

The Hoos were able to pull away on Monday night by holding the Bulldogs scoreless on eight of their final 11 possessions. Georgia scored just 21 points after halftime, and seven points in the final seven-plus minutes. They made just three of their final 12 shots.

“I think those are very important minutes for us to come together as a team,” Franklin said after the win.

That second-half performance on Monday carried into the Providence game. UVa was able to pressure the ball and force the Friars to take contested shots all night. Providence scored just 15 points before halftime, on 6-of-23 shooting. They made just one of their nine 3-point attempts. They shot even worse from the floor (6-for-28) in the second half, missing their final eight shots and 17 of their final 18.

“We’re just playing together,” said Gardner, who was named MVP of the Legends Classic after a 21-point, 13-rebound performance against Providence. “I thought we started out these last two games very locked in defensively and we came out to great starts.”

Shedrick is emerging as an elite rim protector early this season. After a three-block night against Coppin State last Friday, he totaled nine more in Newark, including five against the Friars on Tuesday night. His 20 blocks through the season’s first two weeks lead the ACC.

Beekman had three steals in the two-game tournament, giving him a league-high 16 through six games. Franklin had six defensive rebounds against Georgia, though he was kept off the glass on Tuesday. Gardner ranks sixth in the ACC in rebounding at 8.3 per game; his 33 defensive boards fifth-most in the conference.

This UVa team still has its flaws. Offensively, the Hoos turned it over 15 times against Providence, raising their season average to 11.8 per game. They’re scoring just 61.5 points per game and, at 41.5 percent from the floor, the worst-shooting team in the ACC. The back end rotation off the bench remains a work in progress and largely inexperienced.

More challenges await on the upcoming homestead that starts on Friday against Lehigh and also includes next Monday’s matchup with Iowa—who as of Wednesday was 5-0 and leading the country in scoring, averaging 99.6 points per game—and the Cavaliers’ ACC opener against Pitt next Friday.

But Bennett believes he has watched his core group start to grow up in the season’s first two weeks. And it wouldn’t be a Tony Bennett team if the growth he was most concerned about came on defense. In their two wins in Newark, the Hoos learned how that familiar recipe of continuity and effort can keep a game close even when it’s a bumpy night at the offensive end.

“I thought early the year we were a team that could be real sound and tough defensively, and then I second-guessed it a little bit maybe after the Navy game and the Houston game,” Bennett admitted. “But now, hopefully we can get it back on track.”

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