Virginia now unanimous No. 1

Virginia is now the unquestioned No. 1 in the AP Top 25.

The Cavaliers earned all 65 first-place votes in Monday’s poll after finishing four games ahead of the field in the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season race. This was Virginia’s fourth straight week at No. 1, with the Cavaliers acquiring more first-place votes each time until claiming them all this week.

Virginia joined fellow ACC team Duke as teams to be unanimous No. 1 in the AP Top 25 this season. Pretty good for a team that was picked to finish sixth in the ACC during the preseason.

The Cavaliers (28-2, 17-1 ACC) open ACC tournament play in Thursday’s quarterfinals with a chance to sweep the league regularseason and tournament titles for the second time in five seasons.

“Now you are in oneand-done tournament play — the ACC tournament and the NCAA tournament,” coach Tony Bennett said after Saturday’s win against Notre Dame.

“You continue on, but you understand that it is quality play,” he said. “You do not change who you are, but you know that if you drop one, you are out.”

Beard gets new deal:

Big 12 runner-up Texas Tech gave coach Chris Beard a new $19 million contract that goes through the 202324 season.

No. 14 Texas Tech goes into this week’s Big 12 tournament as the No. 2 seed with a 23-8 overall record. The 23 wins already match the most for the Red Raiders since they went 30-2 and made it to the NCAA Sweet 16 during the 1995-96 season.

Beard is 41-22 at Texas Tech since replacing Tubby Smith two years ago.

Layups:

Arkansas dismissed senior F Dustin Thomas from the team for an unspecified violation of team rules. Thomas averaged five points and 4.1 rebounds per game this season and he started 17 games . ... Freshman G Mark Smith will transfer from Illinois. Smith averaged 5.8 points per game.