Virginia Travels To North Carolina for Wednesday Night Contest

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Feb. 28, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –

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The Game
Virginia enters tonight’s Atlantic Coast Conference game with a 14-11 overall record and a 7-7 mark in the ACC. The Cavaliers are coming off a 90-64 loss to Clemson (Feb. 25) in Clemson, S.C.

North Carolina stands at 19-6 overall and 10 -4 in the ACC. The Tar Heels are ranked 13th in The Associated Press and 15th in the USAToday/ESPN Top 25 polls. UNC has won its last five games and is coming off an 81-57 win over Maryland (Feb. 26) in Chapel Hill, N.C.

The Series vs. North Carolina
North Carolina leads the all-time series with the Cavaliers 118-48 in a rivalry that dates back to the 1910-11 season. UVa won the first meeting of the 2005-06 season 72-68 (Jan. 19) in University Hall.

UNC swept the 2004-05 series, winning 110-76 (Jan. 29) in Charlottesville – snapping UVa’s five-game winning streak over the Tar Heels at U-Hall – and 85-61 (Feb. 16) in Chapel Hill. It is the first time since the 1998-99 season North Carolina has swept the season series from UVa. 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. UVa 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).

Despite losing four of the last six meetings, the Cavaliers have won eight of the last 13 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 at UNC. Prior to 1999-00, the previous Virginia victory in Chapel Hill came on Feb. 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 60 of the 65 meetings. The Cavaliers are 2-18 at the Smith Center.

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

North Carolina has won 13 of the last 22 games and 23 of the last 35 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 21.5 three-point field goals (817 in 38 games) per game against North Carolina. Virginia made 269 of those 817 attempts (32.9 percent) for 7.1 made threes per game. Since the 1988-89 season, the Cavaliers have attempted 20 or more threes in a game against the Tar Heels 26 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 Feb. 14, 1990 and Mar. 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 Feb. 14, 1990 game against UNC with 15. (Virginia equaled the mark of 15 threes made in a game against Hampton on Nov. 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 18-76 all-time against ranked UNC teams (11-58 vs. top 10 UNC teams).

Virginia is 2-3 all-time against 13th (AP Poll) ranked Tar Heel squads.

The Cavaliers are 2-35 all-time against ranked North Carolina teams in Chapel Hill.

Defeating the Defending National Champion
UVa’s 72-68 win over 2005 NCAA champion North Carolina (Jan. 19) marked the fourth consecutive win for Virginia over a reigning national champion.

In the 2002-03 season, the Cavaliers posted a pair of wins over Maryland (the 2002 NCAA champion) – 86-78 at Maryland (Feb. 6) and 80-78 in OT at home (Mar. 9). UVa began its current streak with an 87-84 home win over Duke (the 2001 NCAA champion) on Feb. 28, 2002.

Virginia is 8-13 all-time against the reigning national champions in 11 different seasons. In addition to four straight wins, UVa has won six of the last nine matchups.

UVa is 1-6 all-time vs. North Carolina in the year following Tar Heel national titles (0-2 in 1958, 0-2 in 1983, 0-2 in 1994, and 1-0 in 2006). In addition to UNC, Virginia is 2-0 vs. Maryland, 3-3 vs. Duke, 2-3 vs. NC State, and 0-1 vs. Cincinnati.