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Feb. 15, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –

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The Game
Virginia enters tonight’s game with a 13-9 overall record and a 4-7 mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Cavaliers, who have won three consecutive games, are coming off a 65-60 win over Virginia Tech (Feb. 12) in Charlottesville.

North Carolina stands at 20-3 overall and 8-2 in the ACC. The Tar Heels are ranked fourth in both The Associated Press and USAToday/ESPN Top 25 polls and are coming off a 77-70 victory over 19th-ranked Connecticut (Feb. 13) in Hartford, Conn.

The Series vs. North Carolina
North Carolina leads the all-time series with the Cavaliers 117-47 in a rivalry that dates back to the 1910-11 season. UNC won the first meeting of the 2004-05 season 110-76 (Jan. 29) in Charlottesville, snapping UVa’s five-game winning streak over the Tar Heels at University Hall.

The Tar Heels took the first meeting of the 2003-04 season 96-77 in Chapel Hill and the Cavaliers earned a split in the series with a 74-72 win (Feb. 24) in Charlottesville.

Virginia won the first meeting of the 2002-03 season 79-72 (Jan. 11) at University Hall, but the Tar Heels earned a split with an 81-67 win (Feb. 12) in Chapel Hill, which snapped UVa’s four-game winning streak in the series. Virginia swept the 2001-02 season series, winning 71-67 (Jan. 12) in Chapel Hill and 73-63 (Feb. 12) in Charlottesville. It marked the second time in three seasons UVa swept the season series from the Tar Heels. Virginia also swept the regular season series in 1999-00 for the first time since the 1980-81 season. (UNC, however, won the meeting in the 1981 NCAA Tournament’s Final Four).

The Cavaliers have won seven of the last 11 contests in the series and UVa’s four-game winning streak was its longest in the series since the early 1900s. The Cavaliers won five consecutive games against North Carolina from 1917-18 to 1919-20 (45-35 in 1917-18, 40-29 and 31-21 in 1918-19, 40-25 and 37-31 in 1919-20). UVa won the first eight games in the series from 1910-11 to 1915-16.

Virginia’s victory in Chapel Hill in the 1999-00 season (90-76 – Feb. 20) was its first ever triumph at the Smith Center. The Cavaliers lost their previous 14 games in the Dean Dome. The win also snapped UVa’s 18-game losing streak in Chapel Hill. Prior to 1999-00, the previous Virginia victory in Chapel Hill came on February 3, 1981, when UVa posted an 80-79 overtime victory.

Despite Virginia’s wins in 1999-00 and in 2001-02, the Tar Heels have dominated the series in games played in Chapel Hill, winning 59 of the 64 meetings. The Cavaliers are 2-17 at the Smith Center.

Virginia’s wins in Chapel Hill occurred on: February 24, 1911 – UVa 18, UNC 15; January 25, 1973 – UVa 84, #3 UNC 78; February 3, 1981 – UVa 80, #11 UNC 79 in overtime; February 20, 2000 – UVa 90, UNC 76; and January 12, 2002 – UVa 71, UNC 67.

North Carolina has won 12 of the last 20 games and 22 of the last 33 games between the two teams.

Shooting Lots of Three-Pointers vs. the Tar Heels
Since the 1989-90 season, the Cavaliers attempted an average of 21.6 three-point field goals (777 in 36 games) per game against North Carolina. Virginia made 259 of those 777 attempts (33.3 percent) for 7.2 made threes per game. Since the 1988-89 season, the Cavaliers have attempted 20 or more threes in a game against the Tar Heels 25 times.

Three of Virginia’s top five and five of the Cavaliers’ top 10 games in terms of three-point field goals attempted have come against North Carolina (four are against Clemson and one is vs. Florida State). Prior to attempting a school-record 38 three-pointers against Clemson (Jan. 15, 2000), Virginia’s 32 attempts against UNC on February 14, 1990 and March 7, 1997 marked the Cavaliers’ all-time high for three-pointers attempted in a game.

Virginia also set its school record for most three-point field goals made in the February 14, 1990 game against UNC with 15. (Virginia equaled the mark of 15 threes made in a game against Hampton on November 25, 1998.)

UVa vs. Ranked Tar Heel Teams
The Cavaliers have not fared well against ranked (AP Poll) North Carolina teams over the years. Virginia is 17-75 all-time against ranked UNC teams (11-57 vs. top 10 UNC teams). UVa has played North Carolina five times when the Tar Heels were ranked fourth in the AP Poll. Virginia has never played a fourth-ranked UNC team in Chapel Hill. The Cavaliers are 2-1 at home against #4 North Carolina teams and 1-1 in the ACC Tournament.

Retro Night
Players from Virginia and North Carolina will be wearing uniforms designed in the 1980s for Wednesday night’s game. The Cavaliers will be in orange uniforms. For those of you wondering, the uniform shorts will be the length of today and not the shorter length some of you might remember.

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