Virginia Men's Basketball Travels To Stanford For Opening Round NIT Matchup

Story Links

March 13, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

The Game
Virginia enters the 2006 National Invitation Tournament as a No. 8 seed after posting a 15-14 record this season and a 7-9 mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Cavaliers are coming off a 79-67 loss to 10th-ranked North Carolina (Mar. 10) in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament in Greensboro, N.C.

Stanford is a No. 7 seed in the NIT and stands at 15-13 overall and 11-7 in the Pac-10. The Cardinal lost to Arizona 73-68 (Mar. 9) in the quarterfinals of the Pac-10 Tournament in Los Angeles.

UVa Returns to Postseason Play
The Cavaliers bid to the 2006 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) marks their sixth postseason appearance in the last seven seasons. UVa also played in the NIT in 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2004, and received an NCAA Tournament bid in 2001. Virginia did not receive a postseason bid in 2005.

The winner of tonight’s game between Virginia and Stanford will play at Missouri State (formerly Southwest Missouri State) on Friday (Mar. 17).

Virginia Makes 12th NIT Appearance
Virginia is participating in the National Invitation Tournament for the 12th time. The Cavaliers have won the NIT championship twice, in 1980 and in 1992, and have compiled an overall record of 15-9 in their 11 appearances in the tournament.

The Cavaliers’ victory over George Washington on March 17 in the first round of the 2004 NIT marked the second consecutive year Virginia opened the tournament with a win. UVa lost to Villanova 73-63 on March 20 in the second round of the 2004 NIT. Virginia defeated Brown 89-73 in the first round of the 2003 NIT on March 19 in Charlottesville. In the second round, the Cavaliers lost to St. John’s 73-63 on March 24 in Jamaica, N.Y.

UVa’s victory over Brown in the first round of the 2003 NIT was its first win in the tournament since winning the 1992 NIT title with an 81-76 overtime victory over Notre Dame.

In other recent appearances in the NIT, UVa lost 74-67 to South Carolina on March 13, 2002 in University Hall. In the 2000 NIT, the Cavaliers lost in triple overtime, 115-111, to Georgetown (Mar. 15) in University Hall.

In 1992, the Cavaliers rolled to the tournament championship. Virginia won at Villanova 83-80 in the first round and then defeated Tennessee 77-52 at home in the second round. The Cavaliers defeated New Mexico 76-71 at the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Va., in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals at Madison Square Garden, UVa defeated Florida 62-56. Virginia won the 1992 NIT Championship with an 81-76 overtime victory over Notre Dame in the championship game.

The Series vs. Stanford
Virginia trails Stanford in the all-time series 3-1. The Cardinal have won the last two games in the series, although the last meeting took place more than 10 years ago.

The two teams met four consecutive seasons from 1991-92 to 1994-95 with all four games taking place in December. Interestingly, neither team has scored an odd number of points in any of the meetings. The Cavaliers have also scored 60 points twice (first and fourth meetings) and 72 points twice (second and third meetings).

The initial meeting took place on Dec. 21, 1991 at Stanford with the Cardinal winning 74-60. The following season, UVa defeated Stanford 72-48 on Dec. 5, 1992 in University Hall. The series moved back out west in 1993-94 with Stanford winning at home 84-72 on Dec. 22, 1993. In the last meeting, the Cardinal won 64-60 in Charlottesville on Dec. 22, 1994.

The Series vs. the Pac-10
Virginia is 7-6 all-time against current members of the Pac-10. Prior to UVa playing Arizona the last two seasons (a win last year and a loss this year), the Cavaliers’ most recent meeting with a Pac-10 school was during the 1999-2000 season. UVa defeated Arizona State 70-64 (Nov. 27) in the Puerto Rico Shootout in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. UVa is 2-0 vs. Washington State, 1-0 vs. Arizona State, Southern California and Washington, 1-3 vs. Stanford, 1-2 vs. Arizona and 0-1 vs. UCLA. The Cavaliers have never faced California, Oregon, or Oregon State.

The 2006 ACC Tournament
Virginia entered the 2006 ACC Tournament as the seventh seed and posted a 60-56 first round win over 10th-seeded Virginia Tech (Mar. 9) at the Greensboro Coliseum. UVa’s win over Virginia Tech marked the third consecutive season the Cavaliers won their ACC Tournament opener. In the quarterfinals, UVa lost to second-seeded North Carolina 79-67 (Mar. 10).