The Best Free Throw Shooting Teams In ACC History

With a shout out to the Bill Foster era

Wake Forest’s Hunter Sallis sank a 3-pointer, pulling his team within 47-48 with 8 seconds to go at Virginia’s John Paul Jones Arena. Two seconds later Sallis fouled Isaac McKneely, presumably on purpose.

Unfortunately for Wake, McKneely’s prowess at the line was exceptional. The Cavaliers’ second-leading scorer was an .847 free throw shooter, best by a Cav in 2024, although as is often the case his attempts did not officially qualify to appear among the league’s leaders.

Remarkably, to that point in the game UVa had missed every one of its free throws, contributing to keeping the game close throughout. Missing had become a contagion, as occasionally happens. The Cavs had missed their first nine free throws en route to the ACC’s worst single-game foul shooting performance of the season.

Now, control of the game tottering, McKneely went to the line with six seconds left and promptly made it 10 misses in a row.

But, with Virginia’s lead all but gone, McKneely got another chance and sank a free throw, doubling his team’s margin to 49-47. Wake’s Cameron Hildreth missed a jumper at the buzzer and the Cavs had the win.

The lousy shooting at the line was characteristic of Tony Bennett’s squad on the year — they hit at a .637 pace at the line, worst in the 15-team conference.

Fueled by their weak Wake outing and two other sub-.500 performances, Virginia endured the second-worst free throw season in its history, after .633 inefficiency in 1968.

Quite a shift in fortunes and personnel: Only three seasons earlier, Virginia made .816 of its foul shots, best in conference history.

Last year, while Virginia tailed off at the line, both Wake and Virginia Tech set school records for free throw accuracy. That proficiency was particularly prominent at home, helping the pair combine for a 17-3 record at Joel and Cassell coliseums, collectively. That more than compensated for mere 2-8 records for each on the road. Virginia Tech and Wake were the only winning ACC teams that won so seldom away from home.