I think pace is a pretty silly stat. All it means for the most part is how often a team gets/allows transition opportunities. If that’s real important to you, you probably will never enjoy a game involving a Tony Bennett team haha
I do find it useful sometimes just to sort of confirm things. UVA games have a such a small variance and the opponent doesn’t matter that much, so you can sometimes use it to pick up on patterns. If they creep up to 65, it usually means they’re not defending very well, ie giving up quick shots. If it slows down, it’s typically the opposite, their offense is having problems getting shots.
That said…When they won the title, 4 of those 6 tourney games were played below 60 possessions. If I’m not mistaken NCAA tournament games in general are at a slower pace…because, get this, teams tend to value possessions more and get back in transition, because that’s how you win. lol
The Purdue Elite Eight game everybody calls an all-time classic was played at a pace of 54.8 possessions according to bball reference, super slow even by TB standards.