Virginia's Tony Bennett named USBWA Coach of the Year

Virginia head coach Tony Bennett was announced as the winner of the Henry Iba Award on Monday, given annually to the national coach of the year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.

Bennett led Virginia to a 30-4 record in his sixth season with the Cavaliers, and their second consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title. Bennett, who is 136-64 at Virginia, also won the award as a coach at Washington State in 2007.   

No. 2 Virginia lost to No. 7 Michigan State on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA tournament, marking the second consecutive season that the Cavaliers have been defeated by a lower seed early in March Madness.  

Kentucky head coach John Calipari, who was a favorite for the award, led the Wildcats to an NCAA-record 36-0 season.