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CHARLOTTESVILLEThe Virginia men’s basketball team closes out the regular season portion of its schedule on Sunday (March 9) when the Cavaliers host Maryland in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at John Paul Jones Arena. The game is scheduled to begin at 7:38 p.m. and will be televised by Fox Sports Net.
Virginia senior players Adrian Joseph, Ryan Pettinella, Sean Singletary and Tunji Soroye will be honored prior to the game. The senior recognition ceremonies are scheduled to begin at 7:21 p.m. Singletary’s jersey will be retired during the ceremonies.
The game will also be on V Pass Live Audio at VirginiaSports.com.
Virginia enters the game with an overall record of 14-14 and a 4-11 record in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Cavaliers have won three of their last five games, but are coming off an 86-70 loss to nationally-ranked Duke on Wednesday night (March 5) at John Paul Jones Arena.
Senior guard Sean Singletary scored 18 points and had seven assists to lead UVa in the loss to Duke. He has now scored 1,975 points during his Virginia career and needs 25 points to become the fifth Virginia men’s basketball player to score 2,000 points.
Sophomore guard Calvin Baker scored 15 points and had four assists against Duke, while junior forward/guard Mamadi Diane scored 12 points, and junior forward Laurynas Mikalauskas added 10 points and four rebounds. Sophomore forward Jamil Tucker led the Cavaliers in rebounds against the Blue Devils with eight.
A three-time team co-captain, Singletary ranks in the top 10 in Virginia’s men’s basketball history in six different career categories. He ranks second in steals (191), third in assists (548), fourth in three-point field goals made (214), fifth in points scored (1,975) and free throws made (541), and ninth in field goals made (610).
He has scored in double figures in his last 50 games and is the only player in Division I this season to have a 40-point game, a 10-rebound game and a 10-assist game. Singletary is averaging 19.6 points, 5.8 assists and 3.8 rebounds a game this season. He scored a career-high 41 points at Miami on March 1.
Singletary ranks second in the ACC in assists, third in scoring, sixth in steals (51, 1.82 apg.), sixth in free throw percentage (157-185, .849) and eighth in minutes played (952, 34.0 mpg.).
In addition to Singletary, Diane and senior forward Adrian Joseph are also averaging in double figures in scoring for the Cavaliers. Diane is averaging 11.4 points a game and Joseph is averaging 10.3 points a game. Joseph is also Virginia’s leading rebounder with an average of 6.3 a game.
Maryland enters Sunday’s game with an overall record of 18-12 and an 8-7 record in the ACC. The Terrapins are coming off a 73-70 home loss to Clemson last Sunday (March 2).
Maryland has four players averaging in double figures in scoring. Sophomore guard Greivis Vasquez leads the Terrapins in scoring with an average of 17.5 points a game. Also averaging in double figures in scoring are senior forward James Gist (16.1 ppg.), senior center Bambale Osby (11.3 ppg.) and sophomore guard Eric Hayes (10.5 ppg.). Gist leads the team in rebounding with an average of 7.9 rebounds a game and Osby is averaging 6.5 rebounds a game. Vasquez leads Maryland in assists with an average of 6.7 a game.
Gary Williams is in his 19th year as Maryland’s head coach and his 30th year as a collegiate head coach. His Terrapin teams have compiled an overall record of 396-212, have participated in the NCAA Tournament 12 times and won the National Championship in 2002. Williams’ overall record as a collegiate head coach is 603-340.
Maryland leads the series with Virginia 102-66 and defeated the Cavaliers 85-75 earlier this season in College Park, Md. In games played in Charlottesville in the series, Virginia leads 41-39.
The 2008 ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament is scheduled for March 13-16 in Charlotte, N.C.