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Jan. 10, 2007
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –
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The Game
Virginia enters tonight’s conference game against top-ranked North Carolina with a 9-4 overall record and a 1-0 mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Cavaliers had their three-game winning streak snapped with a 76-75 loss to Stanford (Jan. 7) at the John Paul Jones Arena.
North Carolina is 14-1 overall and 1-0 in the ACC. The Tar Heels are ranked No.1 in this week’s Associated Press and USAToday/ESPN Top 25 polls. UNC has won 11 consecutive games, including an 84-58 win over Florida State (Jan. 7) in Chapel Hill in its last outing.
TELEVISION UPDATE FOR CHARLOTTESVILLE MARKET: Due to the Presidential speech, WVIR-TV will not air the start of the game. The game will be shown live starting at 9 p.m. on CW29 (Comcast channel 17) in the Charlottesville area.
Television
Tonight’s game will be televised by Raycom-Lincoln Financial (RLF). Tim Brando will handle the play-by-play. Billy Packer is the analyst.
Radio
All UVa games are heard on the Virginia Sports Network originating at the Charlottesville Radio Group and WINA-AM/WWWV-FM in Charlottesville. Mac McDonald calls the play-by-play. Jim Hobgood provides the analysis.
The Series vs. North Carolina
North Carolina leads the all-time series with the Cavaliers 120-48 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, but UNC earned a split with a 99-54 win (Mar. 1) in Chapel Hill, and then took a 79-67 decision (Mar. 10) in the ACC Tournament.
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 was the first time since the 1998-99 season North Carolina swept the season series from UVa.
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 six of the last eight meetings, the Cavaliers have won eight of the last 15 contests in the series and UVa’s four-game winning streak during that stretch is 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 61 of the 66 meetings. The Cavaliers are 2-19 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 15 of the last 24 games and 25 of the last 37 games between the two teams.
Virginia vs. No. 1
This is the 27th time the Cavaliers have played the No. 1 team in the nation. They have not fared well against top-ranked teams, posting a 1-25 all-time record. Virginia’s lone win over the No. 1 team was an 86-73 win over North Carolina in Charlottesville on January 30, 1986.
Virginia has faced North Carolina 10 times when the Tar Heels were ranked number one and are 1-9.
UVa vs. Ranked Tar Heel Teams
The Cavaliers have not fared well against ranked (AP Poll) North Carolina teams over the years. Virginia is 18-78 all-time against ranked UNC teams (11-59 vs. top 10 UNC teams).
Shooting lots of Three-Pointers vs. The Tar Heels
Since the 1989-90 season, the Cavaliers attempted an average of 21.7 three-point field goals (866 in 40 games) per game against North Carolina. Virginia made 280 of those 866 attempts (32.3 percent) for 7.0 made threes per game. Since the 1988-89 season, the Cavaliers have attempted 20 or more threes in a game against the Tar Heels 28 times.
Three of Virginia’s top six and five of the Cavaliers’ top 11 games in terms of three-point field goals attempted have come against North Carolina (four are against Clemson, and one vs. both Gonzaga and 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’s former school record of 15 three-point field goals made in a game was against North Carolina (Feb. 14, 1990). Virginia equaled the mark of 15 threes made in a game against Hampton on Nov. 25, 1998. Earlier this season, UVa set a new school record for three-pointers in a game with 18 vs. Gonzaga (Jan. 3).