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Feb. 1, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –

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The Game
Virginia enters tonight’s game with a 10-8 overall record and a 1-7 mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Cavaliers are coming off a 110-76 loss to third-ranked North Carolina (Jan. 29) in Charlottesville, Va.

Providence stands at 9-11 overall and 0-7 in the ACC. The Friars are coming off an 86-66 loss (Jan. 31) to Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pa. PC has lost its last seven games. Providence finished the 2003-04 season with a 20-9 overall record and an 11-5 mark in the Big East.

The Series vs. Providence
The Cavaliers meet Providence for the sixth time with Virginia leading the series 3-2. Tonight’s contest is the second time in the series that the game is not being played at a neutral site. The Friars won last year’s meeting 84-69 (Jan. 3) in Charlottesville in the first meeting on either team’s home court. The first four meetings were all played as a part of tournaments. The other interesting note is that UVa head coach Pete Gillen served as Providence’s head coach for four seasons from 1994-1998 prior to coaching the Cavaliers.

The 84-69 loss (Jan. 3, 2004) to Providence snapped UVa’s 34-game regular season home winning streak against non-conference foes. The previous time Virginia lost a regular season home game to a non-conference opponent was December 12, 1998 when the Cavaliers fell to 12th-ranked St. John’s 95-68.

Prior to last season, the last time the two teams met was in the Puerto Rico Shootout on November 26, 1999 in Bayamon, Puerto Rico with the Cavaliers picking up an 80-64 second round victory. In the 1988-89 season, Virginia defeated Providence 100-97 on March 16 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Nashville, Tenn. The Cavaliers went on to win two more games to advance to the regional championship (“elite eight”) of the NCAAs before falling to Michigan 102-65. UVa lost to the Friars 75-71 in overtime in the first round of the Silversword Invitational in Kona, Hawaii, on November 23, 1984. The first meeting between the two teams was on December 28, 1978 and was also part of a tournament, as Virginia defeated Providence 106-68 in the first round of the Sugar Bowl Classic in New Orleans, La.

Virginia vs. the Big East
The Cavaliers are 47-44 (.516) against the 12 schools in the Big East Conference. Most of the games occurred prior to a school’s membership in the Big East. Tonight’s game is Virginia’s only contest against a Big East team this season. UVa was 1-2 against Big East teams last season. The Cavaliers posted a 2-2 record against Big East foes in 2002-03 and Virginia’s 73-55 loss to Virginia Tech (Jan. 21, 2003) snapped the Cavaliers’ six-game winning streak over Big East teams.

In all games against the current membership of the Big East, Virginia is 11-12 vs. Georgetown, 8-8 vs. West Virginia, 7-3 vs. Pittsburgh, 5-1 vs. Notre Dame, 4-2 vs. Villanova, 3-0 vs. Boston College and Rutgers, 3-2 vs. Providence, 2-6 vs. Connecticut, 1-1 vs. Syracuse, 0-2 vs. Seton Hall, and 0-7 vs. St. John’s.

Virginia was the only ACC school to win all three games in the defunct ACC-Big East Challenge held from 1989-91. Syracuse was the only Big East school to win all three games in the challenge.

Out of Conference
The Cavaliers are playing their last non-conference regular season game tonight. UVa is 9-1 in non-conference games this season. Virginia’s lone non-conference loss was an 81-79 setback (Dec. 6) at Iowa State. In non-conference games, the Cavaliers are:
7-0 in home games
1-1 in away games
1-0 in neutral site games

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