Virginia Men's Basketball To Play Clemson Thursday In ACC Tournament

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March 10, 2004

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –

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Virginia Eighth Seed in ACC Tournament
Virginia enters the 2004 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament as the eighth seed with an overall record of 16-11 and a 6-10 mark in the ACC. The Cavaliers were the sixth seed in last year’s ACC Tournament.

Virginia plays Clemson (10-17 overall, 3-13 ACC) at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday (March 11) at the Greensboro Coliseum in the first round of the tournament. The game will be televised by ESPN. Dave O’Brien will handle the play-by-play. Brad Daugherty is the analyst. All UVa games are heard on the Virginia Sports Network originating at WINA/WWWV in Charlottesville. Mac McDonald calls the play by play. Jim Hobgood provides the analysis.

Virginia has lost its opening game in the ACC Tournament the last eight years, including an 83-76 loss to third-seeded Duke in the quarterfinals of the 2003 ACC Tournament. UVa’s last victory in the ACC Tournament was a 77-67 triumph over Georgia Tech in the quarterfinals of the 1995 tournament.

The Cavaliers are the eighth seed in the ACC Tournament for the sixth time and the first time since 1985. UVa is 0-5 as the eighth seed in the tournament. Thursday’s contest is Virginia’s third appearance in a first round game in the ACC Tournament and the Cavaliers are 0-2 in those games. In the 1998 and 1999 tournaments, UVa lost to top-seeded Duke 63-41 and 104-67, respectively. Both games occurred when the ninth seed played the first seed.

UVa is 27-49 (.355 winning percentage) all-time in the ACC Tournament. The Cavaliers are 10-19 in the previous 19 ACC Tournaments held in Greensboro.

UVa vs. Clemson in the ACC Tournament
The Cavaliers have had good success playing Clemson in the ACC Tournament, as UVa sports a 5-1 record vs. the Tigers.

The Series vs. Clemson
Virginia leads the all-time series with Clemson 61-46. The Cavaliers swept the 2003-2004 regular season series from Clemson. UVa snapped a two-game losing streak to the Tigers with a 61-50 win (January 20) in Charlottesville. Virginia earned a sweep with a 58-55 victory (Feb. 21) in Clemson, S.C. Despite losing three of the last six games in the series, UVa has won nine of the last 13 games against the Tigers. The Cavaliers swept the season series six times in the last 12 seasons (since 1992-93) and are 16-8 vs. the Tigers during that span. Overall the Cavaliers have won 20 of the last 29 games in the series dating back to the 1989-90 season.

This is the sixth time UVa has played Clemson three times in a season and the first time since 1990. Virginia has swept three games from Clemson in the same season only once – in 1982.

The Tigers swept the 2002-2003 season series from UVa, winning 78-77 (Jan. 18) in Clemson, S.C., and 73-64 (Feb. 18) in Charlottesville. It marked Clemson’s first season sweep since the 1996-97 campaign.

Virginia had its four-game winning streak against the Tigers snapped with a 68-52 loss (Jan. 8) in the first meeting in the 2001-2002 season in Clemson, S.C. Virginia earned a split in the 2001-2002 series with an 85-71 win (Feb. 10) in University Hall.

The Cavaliers swept the 2000-2001 season series versus Clemson, winning 104-76 (Jan. 27) at Littlejohn Coliseum and 84-65 (Feb. 28) at University Hall. Virginia also swept the 1999-2000 season series from Clemson.

Lacking ACC Tournament Experience
The Cavaliers have just three players on their roster who have started an ACC Tournament game. Senior Todd Billet, junior Devin Smith and sophomore Derrick Byars all started against Duke in the ACC Tournament last season. Those three players have combined to play 101 minutes in the ACC Tournament – Billet (38 minutes), Byars (33 minutes), and Smith (30 minutes).

UVa has only three other players who have competed in the ACC Tournament – senior Majestic Mapp (two games, 42 minutes), junior Elton Brown (two games, 23 minutes), and junior Jason Clark (two games, 16 minutes).

Virginia players have combined for only 182 minutes of ACC Tournament experience. Mapp, Clark and Brown are the only UVa players to compete in more than one ACC Tournament game.