So what is different about UVA's system where they consistently beat top 10 to 20 teams in the regular season but then lose in the postseason? The possessions per game aren't any different in the tournament v. the regular season. They beat Cuse in the regular season the year they lost to them in the Elite 8 (and the postseason game featured just one more possession).
ETA: In UVA's five losses in the NCAAT the last five years, they were within 3 possessions of their season average in every single game (three faster and two slower).
Why don't you count ALL of Bennett's post season losses rather than excluding a bad one?
By the way, in three of those losses with the approximately equal number of seasonal possessions, they lost by 26, 26 and 20. None of those losses were to significantly better teams. Thus, their pace did influence the results.
Who cares about the number of possessions? It's what you do with the possessions.
I can't believe you don't get the reality that a team has far less margin of error by creating fewer possessions.