CHARLOTTE, N.C. (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Ugo Onyenso sat through the postgame press conference flashing his irrepressible, toothy smile, his confidence rightfully intact despite Virginia’s 74-70 loss to No. 1 Duke in the ACC championship game.

The 7-foot transfer center offered an explanation for his historic performance this week in Charlotte, a run that saw him block a tournament-record 21 shots over three games, that was more matter-of-fact than braggadocious. 

“Blocking shots is what I do, and I’m really good at it,” Onyenso said. “Opportunities like this helps me showcase the fact that I’m still good at it if I’m playing against the top players in the league.”

Indeed, against ACC Player of the Year Cameron Boozer and a Blue Devils team that figures to the No. 1 overall seed when the NCAA bracket is revealed Sunday, Onyenso was up to the task.

He blocked nine shots, which when added to the eight he swatted in the quarterfinal win over North Carolina State on Thursday and the four he rejected in Friday’s semifinal victory over Miami, vaulted him past the venerable Tim Duncan in the conference’s record ledger. 

It was the second time in three weeks that UVA held Boozer below his season scoring average of 22.5 points per game.

Saturday, he finished with a season-low 13.

“I definitely got frustrated,” Boozer said. “But first of all, I’ve got to give props to him. He’s a great defender, great shot blocker. I think there’s a lot I can learn from this game, but I just want to keep attacking, keep attacking, figure it out, find other ways to win.”

Boozer and Duke did, claiming the program’s third ACC tournament title in the last four years and 24th overall. And they did it despite playing without two injured starters in point guard Caleb Foster and center Patrick Ngongba.

But even as the confetti fell on Duke, expectations for Virginia may have been rising.

The Cavaliers finished second in the ACC this season, coach Ryan Odom’s first at the helm, but a 77-51 dismantling at Duke on Feb. 28 had UVA pegged as better than the rest of the ACC, but not quite able to compete with the elite.

Saturday night, against the bluest of bloods and best-of-the-best this year, Virginia was tied with three minutes to play.

“It just gives us so much confidence,” guard Malik Thomas told Cville Right Now. “We can’t get discouraged from this loss. We have to learn from it. There are so many details we can clean up, but we have so much confidence going into this March Madness.”

At 29-5 and after finishing second in the ACC in both the regular season and now the tournament, the Cavaliers appear destined for a 4-seed when the NCAA bracket is released Sunday. 

The ACC is expected to get eight teams in the field – Duke, Virginia, Louisville, North Carolina, Miami, Clemson, North Carolina State and SMU.

Other than the two results against the Blue Devils, UVA went 7-1 in games against that group, the seven victories coming by an average of 12.7 points.

“We’ve grown a lot as a team this year,” guard Dallin Hall said. “Tonight was a testament to that. They’re obviously a great team, well-coached. But our coaching staff did a great job preparing us, and we feel like we have some unfinished business now going into March Madness. So we’re excited.”