Virginia To Play First Road Game Of Season Friday Night

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Dec. 3, 2003

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –

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The Game
Virginia (2002-2003: 16-16/6-10 ACC) stands at 4-0 in the 2003-2004 season. The Cavaliers are coming off an 86-78 victory over Minnesota Wednesday night (Dec. 3) in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge at University Hall. VMI (2002-2003: 10-20/3-13 Southern Conference) stands at 1-3 on the season after posting an 85-62 win over Southern Virginia University Tuesday (Dec. 2).

The Series vs. VMI
The Cavaliers own a 99-15 advantage in the all-time series against VMI that dates back to the 1908-09 season. Virginia has won the last 22 meetings between the two schools, the Cavaliers’ second-longest winning streak of the series. After dropping consecutive meetings in 1942 and 1943, Virginia reeled off 32 wins in a row over the Keydets from 1943-1960. That is a school record for most consecutive wins over an opponent.

Virginia’s 99 wins against VMI are by far its most over any opponent. Next is Virginia Tech, who Virginia has beaten 73 times. VMI has not beaten Virginia since gaining a 95-75 win in Lexington, Va., on December 9, 1964. Cavalier head coach Pete Gillen was a 17-year old freshman at Fairfield University at the time.

In the most recent contest between the two schools, Virginia defeated the Keydets 93-59 in Charlottesville on January 24, 2002.

The Cavaliers are 40-6 against the Keydets in Lexington with their last win coming in the 2000-01 season. UVa won that game 89-70 on December 4. Virginia has won the last five games between the two teams in Lexington and 28 of the last 30. UVa’s last loss in Lexington was in the 1964-65 season (95-75).

Cavaliers Even Record in ACC/Big Ten Challenge
With an 86-78 victory over Minnesota on Wednesday (Dec. 3), Virginia evened its ACC/Big Ten Challenge record at 2-2. The Cavaliers also helped the ACC win the series for the fifth consecutive year as ACC schools won seven of nine contests. The ACC’s cumulative record in the Challenge is 27-17.

Brown and Forbes Set Career Highs in Scoring
Junior forward/center Elton Brown and freshman guard/forward Gary Forbes have both scored in double digits all four games this season and set career highs in UVa’s win over Minnesota (Dec. 3).

Brown exploded for a career-best 26 points against Minnesota. The 26 points are 10 more than his previous current season high (16 vs. Virginia Tech – Nov. 28). Brown’s prior career-high was 22 points vs. Chaminade (Nov. 25) last season.

Forbes tallied 22 points against the Golden Gophers to set a new career-high. His previous career-best was 21 points in his collegiate debut against Mount St. Mary’s (Nov. 23). Forbes also equaled his career-high with nine rebounds vs. Minnesota. He also had nine boards vs. Mount St. Mary’s.