Story Links

Nov. 22, 2003

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –

Complete Release in PDF Format
dot.gifspacer.gifDownload Free Acrobat Reader

The Game
Virginia concluded the exhibition portion of its schedule with a 91-90 win over the Coaches vs. Cancer All-Stars November 18 in University Hall. UVa finished the 2002-2003 season with a 16-16 overall record and a 6-10 mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference in Pete Gillen’s fifth year as Virginia’s head coach. Mount St. Mary’s College stands 0-3 in 2003-2004 after falling to Delaware 75-72 in overtime in its home opener on November 21. The Mount finished the 2002-2003 season with an 11-16 overall record and a 6-12 mark in the Northeast Conference.

Cavaliers Open Season Tonight
Virginia begins the 2003-2004 season, its 99th overall and sixth under head coach Pete Gillen, on Sunday, November 23, when the Cavaliers host Mount St. Mary’s College at 7:00 p.m. in University Hall.

UVa is 78-20 (.796) all-time in season openers. The Cavaliers have won five consecutive and 14 of their last 16 season openers dating back to 1987-88. Virginia’s last loss in a season opener was in 1997-98 when it dropped an 83-79 double overtime decision at Richmond.

The Cavaliers have won their last six season openers at University Hall. UVa’s last loss in a home opener was a 77-36 setback to Connecticut in the 1993-94 season.

Here’s a look at Virginia’s current home season-opener winning streak:

Nov. 22, 2002     Long Island University     W   90-86Nov. 16, 2001     Wagner College	     W  105-74Nov. 17, 2000     Long Island University     W  96-50Nov. 19, 1999     Elon     W  97-66Nov. 24, 1995     Tennessee-Martin     W  84-65Nov. 16, 1994     Old Dominion     W  83-80

The Series vs. Mount St. Mary’s
Tonight’s game is the first meeting between Virginia and Mount St. Mary’s College in men’s basketball.

Cavalier Captains
Graduate students Todd Billet and Majestic Mapp, along with junior Devin Smith, are the captains of the 2003-04 Virginia basketball team. It is the second consecutive year Mapp is serving as a team captain.

Virginia vs. the Northeast Conference
Virginia is 7-0 all-time against teams that were members of the Northeast Conference (formerly the ECAC Metro from 1982-88) when they played the Cavaliers. All seven wins have come at home in University Hall, including the last three in season-openers (Long Island in 2000 and 2002 and Wagner in 2001). UVa is 3-0 against Long Island University, 2-0 versus Wagner College, and 1-0 against Fairleigh Dickinson, and Loyola (Md.).

Head Coach Pete Gillen
Pete Gillen is in his 19th season as a collegiate head coach and sports a 360-193 record for a .651 winning percentage. Gillen is entering his sixth season at Virginia and has posted an 86-65 record (.570 winning percentage).

Gillen won his 350th career game on December 21, 2002 when his Cavaliers posted a 61-57 victory over Rutgers. His 300th career victory came when Virginia defeated then 21st-ranked North Carolina 87-85 on January 18, 2000 at University Hall.

Gillen has led his teams to postseason play 15 times in 18 seasons (nine NCAA, six NIT), including the last four seasons at Virginia. He has been selected as the conference Coach of the Year five times – all while coaching Xavier (Midwestern Collegiate Conference).

Gillen has compiled a 16-2 record in season openers in his career as a collegiate head coach, winning his last 13 openers. Gillen is 5-0 in season-openers at UVa. He successfully began his coaching career at Virginia with an 86-70 win over Virginia Commonwealth on November 13 to start the 1998-99 campaign and coached the team to a 97-66 victory over Elon College to open the 1999-00 season. In 2000-2001, Gillen’s Cavaliers registered a 96-50 victory over Long Island, and in 2001-2002 UVa notched a 105-74 win over Wagner College. Last year, Gillen’s Cavaliers opened the season with a 90-86 win over Long Island.

He was 7-2 at Xavier (1986-94) and 4-0 at Providence (1995-98) in season openers.

Non-Conference Wins at University Hall
Virginia is 201-29 for an impressive .874 winning percentage all-time in University Hall against non-conference opponents. The Cavaliers’ 87-65 victory (Jan. 2, 2003) over Wofford marked their 200th victory over a non-conference opponent at University Hall since the building opened for the 1965-66 season.

The Cavaliers have won 83 of their last 93 home games (.892 winning percentage) against non-conference opponents dating back to the 1989-90 season. UVa had its 15-game home winning streak against non-conference opponents snapped with a 74-67 loss to South Carolina in the first round of the 2002 National Invitation Tournament (Mar. 13). Virginia’s previous home non-conference loss was also in the NIT as the Cavaliers fell to Georgetown 115-111 in triple overtime in the first round of the 2000 NIT (Mar. 15).

The last time UVa lost a regular season home game to a non-conference opponent was December 12, 1998 when the Cavaliers fell to 12th-ranked St. John’s 95-68. Virginia has won 27 consecutive regular season home games against non-conference foes.

Print Friendly Version