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Cavaliers To Host James Madison Tuesday Night
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Dec. 15, 2003
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –
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The Game
Virginia (2002-2003: 16-16/6-10 ACC) stands at 5-0 in the 2003-2004 season. The Cavaliers are coming off a 78-56 victory over VMI (Dec. 5) in Lexington, Va. James Madison (2002-2003: 13-17/8-10 CAA) stands at 2-3 on the season after a 78-70 loss at Akron (Dec. 6).
The Series vs. James Madison
The Cavaliers own a 7-0 advantage in the all-time series against James Madison. The series dates back to the 1977-78 season with the Cavaliers winning the initial matchup 83-63 in Charlottesville. Tonight’s meeting is the first time the two teams have met in 20 years. Virginia won the last meeting 53-50 on December 3, 1983 in University Hall.
UVa is 4-0 all-time against the Dukes at University Hall. In each of the previous four meetings at U-Hall, the Cavaliers’ margin of victory has shrunk – from 20 points in the first meeting, down to three points in the last matchup in Charlottesville. Here’s a look at UVa’s margin of victory in the four games at University Hall.Nov. 25, 1977 83-63 +20Nov. 24, 1978 71-58 +13Jan. 2, 1982 73-65 +8Dec. 3, 1983 53-50 +3
Virginia vs. the Colonial Athletic Association
The Cavaliers are 99-34 (.744) against the 10 schools in the Colonial Athletic Association. Most of the games occurred prior to a school’s membership in the CAA.
Tonight’s game against James Madison is the first of two contests against CAA teams this season as UVa will square off against William & Mary on January 5. Virginia’s last game against a CAA opponent was a 69-65 victory at Richmond on December 21, 1999 (Richmond is no longer a member of the CAA). The last time UVa played a current member of the CAA was in the 1998-99 season when the Cavaliers defeated Virginia Commonwealth 86-70 (Nov. 13, 1998) in Pete Gillen’s first game as Virginia’s head coach.
In all games against the current membership of the CAA, Virginia is 51-26 vs. William & Mary, 10-1 vs. Delaware and VCU, 8-4 vs. Old Dominion, 7-0 vs. James Madison, 6-0 vs. George Mason, 4-0 vs. Towson, 2-0 vs. North Carolina-Wilmington and 1-2 vs. Hofstra. UVa has never played Drexel.
Since the CAA’s inaugural season in 1982-83, the Cavaliers are 29-5 vs. CAA schools for an impressive .853 winning percentage. Since the 1994-95 season, Virginia is 14-1 (.933) against CAA opponents.
Brown Registers First Double-Double of Season
Junior Elton Brown became the first Cavalier in 2003-2004 to register a double-double as he tallied 14 points and a career-high 13 rebounds in UVa’s 78-56 win over VMI (Dec. 5). All but one of his rebounds came in the first half.
The double-double is the second of Brown’s career. He posted 20 points and 10 rebounds against Georgia Tech on January 22, 2002 for his first career double-double.
Shooting Well
Freshman forward/center Donte Minter is off to a great start shooting the basketball. In five games, Minter has made 19-25 attempts from the field for an impressive 76.0 percent.
Minter was 4-5 from the field in UVa’s win over High Point (Nov. 30). Minter began his collegiate career with a 5-6 (83.3 percent) effort from the field against Mount St. Mary’s (Nov. 23). He was 3-5 from the floor against Virginia Tech (Nov. 28) and 1-3 vs. Minnesota (Dec. 3). Minter bounced back from his first sub .500 shooting percentage with a perfect 6-6 effort from the floor against VMI (Dec. 5).
In UVa’s two exhibition victories, Minter was even more accurate from the floor as he shot 83.3 percent while making 15 of 18 attempts. He was a perfect 7-7 from the field against Big Apple Basketball (Nov. 11).
Minter isn’t the only Cavalier shooting the ball well early in the season. Sophomore forward Derrick Byars has made 57.5 percent (23-40) of his attempts from the field in the first five games, including 9-16 three-point attempts (56.3 percent). He was a perfect 5-5 from the field in the season-opener against Mount St. Mary’s.
In the Cavaliers’ two exhibition wins, Byars connected on 19-23 attempts from the field for an impressive 82.6 shooting percentage. He also made 4-6 three-point attempts. Byars made 10-11 attempts (90.9 percent) from the field in UVa’s 104-80 win over Big Apple Basketball (Nov. 11).