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Virginia Men's Basketball Opens Season Friday Night Against Liberty
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Nov. 17, 2005
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –
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The Game
Virginia won its only exhibition game 98-62 over Concordia University (Montreal) Nov. 11 at University Hall. The Cavaliers finished the 2004-05 season with an overall record of 14-15 and had a 4-12 mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Liberty finished the 2004-05 season with a 13-15 overall record and an 11-5 mark in the Big South. The Flames won their only exhibition game of the 2005-06 season 87-71 over Glenville State Nov. 14 in Lynchburg.
A New Era
A new era begins Friday evening (Nov. 18) at University Hall as the Cavaliers begin their 101st season of play. Friday’s game marks the debut of head coach Dave Leitao as well as UVa’s final season of competition in University Hall.
Cavaliers Open Season Tonight
Virginia begins the 2005-06 season, its 101st overall and first under head coach Dave Leitao, on Friday, Nov. 18, when the Cavaliers host Liberty at 7:00 p.m. in University Hall.
UVa is 80-20 (.800) all-time in season openers. The Cavaliers have won seven consecutive and 16 of their last 18 season openers dating back to 1987-88. Virginia’s last loss in a season opener was in 1997-98 when it dropped an 83-79 double overtime decision at Richmond (Nov. 16).
The Cavaliers have won their last eight season openers at University Hall. UVa’s last loss in a home opener was a 77-36 setback to Connecticut in the 1993-94 season.
Cavalier Captains
Junior J.R. Reynolds and sophomore Sean Singletary are co-captains of the 2005-06 Virginia basketball team. Singletary is the first sophomore since Donald Hand in the 1998-99 season to be a team captain.
The Series vs. Liberty
Virginia is 5-1 all-time against Liberty with all six games taking place at University Hall. The Cavaliers won the first three games in the series–62-49 during the 1993-94 season, 76-48 in the 1995-96 season and 67-54 during 1996-97. The Flames ended UVa’s 42-game winning streak against state teams at University Hall during the 1997-98 season by downing the Cavaliers 69-64 (Jan. 7). The following season, UVa posted a 95-70 victory (Dec. 8). In the last meeting during the 2002-03 season, Virginia registered a 77-58 victory (Dec. 30) over the Flames.
Until tonight’s game, the series followed one clear pattern that favored the Cavaliers –all five of UVa’s wins have come in December, while the lone loss occurred in January. This is the first meeting between the two teams in November.
Virginia has led at halftime in all six meetings. In four of the six games (1994, `97, `98, `99), Virginia scored fewer points in the second half than in the first. In all of those games, plus the last meeting in 2002, the Flames scored more points in the final 20 minutes than they did in the first 20. The 2002 meeting is also the only time both teams increased their scoring in the second half.