UVa Men's Basketball To Take On UMBC Wednesday Evening In Richmond

Story Links

Dec. 27, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

The Game
Virginia enters tonight’s game with a 4-4 overall record and a 0-1 mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Cavaliers snapped a three-game losing streak with a 98-59 win over Loyola College (Dec. 23) at University Hall.

UMBC stands at 4-6 on the season. The Retrievers are coming off an 81-70 loss at Long Beach State (Dec. 22).

The Series vs. UMBC
Tonight’s game marks just the third meeting between Virginia and UMBC. It is also the first game not to take place at University Hall. The Cavaliers won the initial meeting on Dec. 21, 1996 by the score of 57-34, and then took the second matchup 85-69 on Dec. 23, 2000.

In the first two meetings, UVa held the Retrievers to 35.8 percent (39-109) shooting from the field. UMBC was 15-50 (30 percent) from the floor in the first contest and 24-59 (40.7 percent) from the field in the last meeting.

Third Meeting, Third Conference
Tonight’s game marks the third meeting between UVa and UMBC, and it is also the third different conference UMBC has been a member of when playing the Cavaliers.

UMBC was a member of the Big South in 1996 when it played Virginia. The Retrievers were in their third season as a member of the Northeast Conference when they met UVa in 2000. UMBC is currently in its third season as a member of the America East Conference.

Virginia vs. the America East
This is Virginia’s first of two games this season against opponents from the America East Conference. UVa’s next game, on Dec. 31, is against America East member Hartford.

The Cavaliers are 4-0 all-time against the nine current members of the America East (and 2-0 vs. teams that were America East members at the time of the game). UVa is 2-0 vs. UMBC and 1-0 vs. Hartford and New Hampshire. The Cavaliers have never played Albany (N.Y.), Binghamton, Boston University, Maine, Stony Brook or Vermont.

Second Trip to ALLTEL Pavilion at the Siegel Center
The Cavaliers have played many games in Richmond through the years, but tonight’s contest is just UVa’s second in Virginia Commonwealth’s ALLTEL Pavilion at the Siegel Center. Last season, the Cavaliers defeated Auburn 89-87 on Dec. 3 in their first contest at the Siegel Center, which opened in the fall of 1999.

Back-to-Back
Tonight’s game against UMBC marks the first time since the 1996-97 season UVa is playing back-to-back games against teams from the state of Maryland. On Jan. 2, 1997 the Cavaliers hosted Loyola (won, 67-61) and then played at Maryland on Jan. 4 and lost 78-62.

UVa has played numerous back-to-back games against Maryland teams with the Terrapins in the equation. However, the last time Virginia played back-to-back games against teams from Maryland – other than the Terrapins – was way back in 1931. The Cavaliers hosted St. John’s (Md.) on Jan. 12, 1931 and lost 22-20. On Jan. 14, 1931 UVa played at Navy and fell 36-21.