Virginia Men's Basketball To Host Furman Wednesday

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Dec. 7, 2004

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –

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The Game
Virginia enters tonight’s game with a 6-1 record and is ranked 19th in both The Associated Press and ESPN/USAToday Top 25 polls released December 6. The Cavaliers are coming off an 81-79 loss to Iowa State (Dec. 6) at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa.Furman stands at 3-3 in 2004-05 and is coming off a 72-68 win over UNC Ashville (Dec. 1) in Greenville, S.C. The Paladins finished the 2003-04 season with a 17-12 overall record and an 8-8 mark in the Southern Conference.

The Series vs. Furman
Tonight’s game is the first meeting between Virginia and Furman in men’s basketball.

Virginia vs. the Southern Conference
This is Virginia’s second and final regular season game this season against a school from the Southern Conference. The Cavaliers defeated Appalachian State 77-60 (Nov. 24) in University Hall. UVa has won its last 12 games against teams representing the Southern Conference. Virginia’s last loss to a Southern Conference team was a 64-63 setback to Davidson on January 23, 1974 at University Hall.

Virginia was one of the 13 original members of the “old” Southern Conference from 1922-37 and has a long and rich history of competition against the Southern Conference.

Against the 12 current members of the Southern Conference, the Cavaliers are 24-4 all-time. The Cavaliers are 5-0 vs. Elon, 3-0 vs. East Tennessee State, 2-0 vs. The Citadel, 2-0 vs. Appalachian State, 1-0 vs. the College of Charleston and Wofford, and 10-4 against Davidson.

Of the Southern Conference’s current membership, Virginia has never faced Chattanooga, Furman (until tonight), Georgia Southern, North Carolina-Greensboro, or Western Carolina.

There have been 41 other schools besides UVa that have been members of the Southern Conference at one time or another since 1922. These schools include many current members of the Southeastern Conference and the ACC. Virginia is 276-244 (.531) against these schools at the time they were in the Southern Conference.

Non-Conference Wins at University Hall
Virginia is 214-30 for an impressive .877 winning percentage all-time in University Hall against non-conference opponents. The Cavaliers’ 87-65 victory on January 2, 2003 over Wofford marked their 200th win over a non-conference opponent at University Hall since the building opened for the 1965-66 season.

The Cavaliers have won 96 of their last 107 home games (.897 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).

UVa had its 34-game home non-conference regular season winning streak snapped with an 84-69 loss to Providence College on January 3, 2004. Virginia’s previous regular season home loss to a non-conference opponent was December 12, 1998 when the Cavaliers fell to 12th-ranked St. John’s 95-68.

Smith Joins Elite Group
Devin Smith lit up the scoreboard for a career-high 40 points in UVa’s 81-79 loss at Iowa State (Dec. 6). He became the eighth Cavalier to tally 40 or more points in a game and the first since Donald Hand poured in 41 points against N.C. State on February 14, 1999.

Smith made 11-18 field goal attempts, including 4-8 from three-point range, and 14-15 free throws (including his last 14 attempts).

Smith’s 40-point performance marked the 17th time a Virginia player had reached the 40-point plateau.