Virginia Men's Basketball Hosts Georgia Tech Saturday Afternoon

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Feb. 23, 2007

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –

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The Game
Virginia enters Saturday’s Atlantic Coast Conference game against Georgia Tech with an 18-8 overall record and a 9-4 mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Cavaliers, who are ranked 24th in The Associated Press and 19th in the ESPN/USAToday Top 25 polls, are coming off a 68-60 loss to Miami (Feb. 21) in Coral Gables, Fla. Virginia has won nine of its last 11 games.

Georgia Tech is 18-9 overall and 6-7 in the ACC this season. The Yellow Jackets are coming off a 75-61 win over Wake Forest (Feb. 21) in Atlanta. Georgia Tech has won five of its last six games.

Television
Today’s game will be televised by ABC. Dave O’Brien will handle the play-by-play. Steve Lavin 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. Georgia Tech
Each team has had a stretch of dominating the series, which Georgia Tech now leads 36-27. The Cavaliers held the lead until the Yellow Jackets passed Virginia by winning 26 of the last 34 meetings, including 15 of the last 18.

Georgia Tech has won the last two meetings, both in Atlanta. Last season the Yellow Jackets posted a 63-54 win (Dec. 4) in the ACC opener for both teams. Georgia Tech (ranked ninth at the time) won the only meeting of the 2004-05 season 92-69 (Jan. 8) in Atlanta.

Georgia Tech won the initial meeting of the 2003-04 season 75-57 (Jan. 15) in Atlanta, but the Cavaliers earned a split in the series with an 82-80 win (Feb. 14) in Charlottesville. The victory snapped UVa’s four-game losing streak to the Yellow Jackets and is UVa’s last win in the series. In 2002-03, Georgia Tech swept the season series, registering an 80-60 win (Feb. 1) in Atlanta and a 90-73 victory (Mar. 5) in Charlottesville.

The Cavaliers have only won two of the last seven meetings against Georgia Tech in Charlottesville – an 83-65 victory (Jan. 8) in the 1999-00 season and an 82-80 win (Feb. 14) in 2003-04. Despite losing five of the last seven home games to Georgia Tech, UVa has won 16 of the 26 games played in Charlottesville during the series.

The Cavaliers have won three of five overtime contests in the series, but their 74-68 overtime loss to Georgia Tech in the 1998-99 season snapped a three-game extra session winning streak. The Jackets won the first overtime game in the series 72-71 in triple overtime in the 1983-84 season.

The Cavaliers opened the series with Georgia Tech by winning 10 of the first 13 games, including eight straight from 1981-1983.

These Games are Barn Burners
Even though 15 of the last 23 meetings between these two teams have been decided by at least nine points, people shouldn’t be surprised if this one goes down to the wire.

Of the 50 games since the 1983-84 season, only 18 have been decided by 10 or more points. Nineteen of the games have been decided by a margin of four points or less with UVa winning 11 of them. The Cavaliers have won four of five games (won in 1987 and 1990 twice, won in 2004, lost in 2002) decided by two points. Five games have gone into overtime, including a triple overtime affair (1984) and a double overtime game (1995).

From 1985 to 1990 the teams played 15 consecutive games that were decided by fewer than 10 points with Virginia winning eight of those games.

Jackets Shoot Well vs. UVa
The Yellow Jackets have won 17 of the last 21 meetings vs. Virginia in the past 11 seasons and a big part of those wins has been Georgia Tech’s ability to shoot the basketball. In the 17 wins, the Jackets shot 47.8 percent (462-966) from the field. In the four games Georgia Tech lost to Virginia in the last 11 seasons, the Yellow Jackets made only 42.2 percent (97-230) of their attempts from the field. In its last 17 wins over the Cavaliers, Georgia Tech averaged 78.7 points per game compared to 68.5 points per game in its last four losses to UVa (the Jackets scored 65 points twice, 64 once, and 80 once).

In Georgia Tech’s last 26 wins over Virginia dating back to the championship game of the 1990 ACC Tournament, the Yellow Jackets are shooting 47.5 percent from the field, while averaging 76.0 points.

That is in contrast to Georgia Tech’s performance when Virginia wins. In Virginia’s 10 wins over Georgia Tech dating back to the beginning of the 1990s, the Yellow Jackets have shot 41.0 percent from the floor and scored an average of 70.8 points.

In Virginia’s last 10 wins against Georgia Tech, the Yellow Jackets have only shot better than 42.6 percent once from the field and that was during the 2003-04 season (28 of 58 for 48.3 percent).