NICEVILLE, Fla. -- In Tony Bennett's early seasons at Virginia, Cavaliers fans became frustrated with the team's inability to win a regular-season tournament.

Since then, much has changed.

Seventh-ranked Virginia captured its fourth consecutive regular-season tournament title with a 63-52 victory over Providence on Saturday night in the Emerald Coast Classic.

"We just need to keep getting better. It's not who we play, it's how we play," Bennett said. "We played pretty solid, but we had a lapse that can be pretty costly. We had some guys make some plays and bail us out but we have to become the best 40-minute outfit we can become or we will find ourselves in trouble."

The Cavaliers held off a pesky Providence squad that gave Virginia its toughest test of the season.

Guard London Perrantes scored 11 points and was named the tournament MVP for Virginia (6-0), which shot 59.5 percent from the field.

"It was a lot of fun down here," Perrantes said of the tournament experience. "Providence came out and played extremely well tonight and we had to fight for everything that we got. I think it was something that we needed with the games we have coming up."

Perrantes added eight rebounds and five assists to his impressive stat line that earned him the MVP honors.

"I think you could find something positive from all 10 guys tonight," Bennett said of his team. "The balance in scoring, the balance of bringing different guys in and them giving us energy. That is going to be important all the way through."

The Cavaliers will host Ohio State on Wednesday night in the annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Providence (4-2) was led by Jalen Lindsey, who scored a game-high 18 points, including four 3-pointers.

"I thought we grew up this weekend. I found out a lot about my team," Providence coach Ed Cooley said. "We were physical, we were tough. I just thought we had a couple of breakdowns and when you play against a team like that, there's going to be some separation."

After scoring the first nine points of the second half, the Friars closed to within five on two occasions in the second half but could get no closer.

The Cavaliers held the Friars to 37 percent shooting from the field as Providence had just four players score the entire game.

"Virginia is very, very fundamentally sound," Cooley said. "They are very disciplined. One of the most disciplined teams that we've played against in a long time."

Providence came out with confidence and took a 10-9 lead on an Emmitt Holt 3-pointer with 14 minutes to play in the first half. The Friars scored only 10 more point the remainder of the half, however, as the Cavaliers flexed their muscles defensively.

Virginia shot 68 percent from the field in the first half and took a 34-20 lead into the break. The Cavaliers made eight of their final 10 shots of the half to create the 14-point advantage.

Wilkins scored seven first-half points and Perrantes led the way with eight.

Virginia used an 8-0 run capped by a Kyle Guy layup with 4:22 left in the half to give the Cavaliers a 28-16 lead.

Providence was led by Rodney Bullock's seven points.

NOTES: Perrantes and G Darius Thompson (11 points) were the first starters to lead Virginia in scoring this season. ... Providence started four players 6-7 or taller against the Cavaliers. ... Virginia F Isaiah Wilkins was named to the all-tournament team along with Providence F Rodney Bullock. Virginia improved to 4-3 all time against Providence. ... The Cavaliers add the Emerald Coast Classic to their run of four straight regular-season tournament titles. ... Bullock scored just two points in the game's final 13 minutes.