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Men's Basketball Travels to 10th-Ranked Gonzaga For Saturday Contest
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Dec. 16, 2005
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –
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The Game
Virginia enters today’s game with a 3-3 overall record and a 0-1 mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Cavaliers are coming off a 62-60 loss to Fordham (Dec. 7) in Charlottesville.
Gonzaga stands at 6-2 on the season and is ranked 10th in The Associated Press Top 25 Poll and 11th in the ESPN/USAToday Top 25 Poll. In their last outing, the Bulldogs used a last second shot to defeat Oklahoma State 64-62 (Dec. 10) at Key Arena in Spokane, Wash.
The Series vs. Gonzaga
Today’s game is just the second meeting between Virginia and Gonzaga in men’s basketball. The Zags won the initial meeting 86-85 in the first round of the 2001 NCAA Tournament at The Pyramid in Memphis, Tenn.
Roger Mason, Jr., made a three-pointer with 1:40 to go to give UVa an 85-84 lead. Casey Calvary converted a layup with four seconds left to give Gonzaga an 86-85 edge. Mason’s layup at the buzzer was off target.
Virginia vs. the West Coast Conference
Against the current West Coast Conference membership, UVa is 2-1 all-time. UVa has a pair of wins over Loyola Marymount in the last two seasons – a 79-77 overtime win on Dec. 23 last season and a 76-68 win on Dec. 19 in the 2003-04 campaign. The loss was an 86-85 setback to Gonzaga on Mar. 16, 2001 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 eight games against teams that were one-time members of the WCC, going 5-3 all-time against Loyola Marymount (2-0), UNLV (3-1), San Jose State (0-1) and Gonzaga (0-1).
UVa vs. the Evergreen State
The Cavaliers are 3-1 all-time against teams from Washington. Virginia is 2-0 vs. Washington State, 1-0 vs. Washington, and 0-1 vs. Gonzaga.
Virginia’s last win against a team from Washington was a 62-53 triumph over Washington State on Nov. 22, 1998 in the Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks, Alaska.
Today’s game at Gonzaga marks just the second time Virginia has played in the Evergreen State. UVa’s first appearance in the Evergreen State was in the 1984 Final Four. The Cavaliers lost to then fifth-ranked Houston 49-47 in overtime at the Seattle Kingdome on Mar. 31.
Top 10 Foes
Gonzaga enters today’s game ranked 10th in the latest Associated Press poll. The Cavaliers routinely meet top 10 opponents in conference play, but today’s game against the Bulldogs marks the second top 10 non-conference opponent on UVa’s schedule this season. Earlier this year, the Cavaliers fell to then ninth-ranked Arizona 81-51 (Nov. 27) in Tucson, Arizl.
It marks the first time since the 1995-96 season Virginia has played two top 10 non-conference opponents in the same season. On Nov. 29, 1995, UVa fell to second-ranked Kansas 72-66 in Auburn, Hills, Mich., and the Cavaliers also lost to fourth-ranked Connecticut 76-46 on Jan. 28, 1996 in Hartford, Conn.
The Cavaliers’ last win on a top 10 non-conference opponent’s home court was on Dec. 11, 1982 when top-ranked UVa defeated third-ranked Georgetown 68-63 at the Capital Centre in Landover, Md.
Last season, UVa defeated then 10th-ranked Arizona 78-60 (Nov. 21) at University Hall for its last 10 top victory. The Cavaliers’ previous non-conference top 10 win came on Dec. 19, 2000 when UVa downed fourth-ranked Tennessee 107-89 in East Rutherford, N.J.
Ruling the Offensive Glass
Jason Cain has registered an amazing 16 offensive rebounds in the last two games (7 vs. Georgia Tech – Dec. 4 and 9 vs. Fordham – Dec. 7). The 16 offensive rebounds ties Bryant Stith for the most offensive rebounds in back-to-back games in school history. Stith had 16 offensive boards (eight each) against Wake Forest (Mar. 1, 1989) and Maryland (Mar. 5, 1989).
Furthermore, Cain’s nine offensive rebounds vs. the Rams was just one shy of the single game school mark which is shared by three players (Stith, Matt Blundin, Travis Watson). Only one other player – Junior Burrough – has had nine offensive boards in a game (against Old Dominion on Dec. 11, 1993).
On the season, Cain has 28 offensive rebounds for an average of 4.67 per game. He leads the ACC in offensive rebounds and is sixth in overall rebounding at 8.2 per game.