Men's Basketball To Host Loyola Marymount Thursday Evening

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Dec. 22, 2004

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –

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The Game
Virginia enters tonight’s game with a 7-1 record and is ranked 25th in both The Associated Press and ESPN/USAToday Top 25 polls released December 20. The Cavaliers are coming off a 79-67 victory over Furman (Dec. 8) at University Hall.

Loyola Marymount stands at 7-2 in 2004-05 and is coming off a 64-54 win at Colgate (Dec. 21) in Hamilton, N.Y. The Lions finished the 2003-04 season with a 15-14 overall record and a 5-9 mark in the West Coast Conference.

The Series vs. Loyola Marymount
Tonight’s game is the second meeting between Virginia and Loyola Marymount in men’s basketball. The Cavaliers won the initial meeting 76-68 (Dec. 19) last season at Gersten Pavilion in Los Angeles.

Virginia vs. the West Coast Conference
Against the current West Coast Conference membership, UVa is 1-1 all-time. UVa defeated Loyola Marymount 76-68 (Dec. 19) last season and lost to Gonzaga 86-85 (Mar. 16) in the first round of the 2001 NCAA Tournament in Memphis, Tenn. The Cavaliers have never played current WCC members Pepperdine, Portland, St. Mary’s (Calif.), San Diego, San Francisco, and Santa Clara.

Virginia has played seven games against teams that were one-time members of the WCC, going 4-3 all-time against Loyola Marymount (1-0), UNLV (3-1), San Jose State (0-1) and Gonzaga (0-1).

UVa vs. the Golden State
The Cavaliers are 4-5 all-time against teams from California. Virginia is 1-0 vs. California-Irvine, Loyola Marymount, and San Diego State, 1-3 vs. Stanford, and 0-1 vs. San Jose State and UCLA.

Prior to last season’s win over Loyola Marymount, the Cavaliers hadn’t played a team from California since December 22, 1994 when they lost to Stanford 64-60 in University Hall.

Virginia’s last win against a California team in Charlottesville was against California-Irvine on Dec. 21, 1988 – a 99-89 overtime win at University Hall.

Last Season vs. Loyola Marymount
Elton Brown tallied 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Derrick Byars notched a career-high 21 points in leading Virginia to a 76-68 victory (Dec. 19) over Loyola Marymount at Gersten Pavilion in Los Angeles.

Brown posted his second double-double of the season with his 21 points and 10 rebounds. Byars connected on 8-10 attempts from the floor, including 3-4 three-point attempts, in establishing a new career high for points. Devin Smith had a solid outing with 14 points, six rebounds, four steals, two assists, and one blocked shot. Gary Forbes tallied nine points and pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds.

The Cavaliers jumped out to a 9-0 lead 2:25 into the game, but Loyola Marymount turned the tables on UVa and took its own nine-point lead (39-30) with 1:38 left in the opening half. The Cavaliers scored the final five points of the half to trim the deficit to 39-35 at the intermission.

Virginia continued its run with six consecutive points to open the second half and took a 41-39 advantage at the 18:09 mark. The Lions came back to take a 46-42 edge with 14:56 left, but UVa used a 25-8 run to open up a 67-54 lead with 6:33 to play. The Cavaliers held a double digit lead until the final 18 seconds of the contest.

UVa won the battle of the boards 48-39, including a 22-15 edge on the offensive glass. The Cavaliers shot 44.6 percent (29-65) from the field while limiting Loyola Marymount to 38.8 percent (26-67) shooting. UVa struggled from the free throw line as it made only 14-29 attempts (48.3 percent).

Sherman Gay led the Lions with 21 points, seven rebounds, and three blocked shots, while Keith Kincade added 13 points, eight rebounds, and five assists.

From Hectic to a Long Layoff
Virginia’s home game against Furman on December 8 closed out a stretch of five games in 11 days (and four in eight days – all four at different venues). Tonight’s game against Loyola Marymount is the Cavaliers’ first since the Furman game – a 14-day layoff for final exams.

After tonight’s game, UVa has nine days off before its next game – a January 2 home contest against fifth-ranked Wake Forest.

After playing five games in 11 days, UVa is now in the midst of a stretch of one game in 24 days.