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Cavaliers Host Maryland at JPJA on Thursday
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CHARLOTESVILLE-The Virginia men’s basketball team will try to build on its recent victory over Georgia Tech when the Cavaliers host Maryland on Thursday (Jan. 27) in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at John Paul Jones Arena.
Thursday’s game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. It will be televised by Comcast SportsNet and broadcast on the Virginia Sports Radio Network.
Tickets are available for the game (click here for ticket information). Tickets can be purchased online at VirginiaSports.com/tickets and can also be purchased on game day at the JPJA box office starting at 5:30 p.m.
Virginia enters the Maryland game with an overall record of 11-8 and a 2-3 record in the ACC. The Cavaliers are coming off a 72-64 win over Georgia Tech at JPJA last Saturday (Jan. 22) that broke a three-game losing streak.
Senior guard Mustapha Farrakhan scored a game-high 23 points and freshman guard KT Harrell scored 17 points to lead Virginia to its victory over the Yellow Jackets. The 23 points are Farrakhan’s career high in an ACC game and he tied his overall career high with five assists.
Freshman guard Joe Harris scored 11 points, had a team-high eight rebounds and two assists for Virginia.
UVa took control of the game with an 18-5 run to close the first half. The Cavaliers led 25-24 with 5:41 left in the half before going on their game changing run. Farrakhan scored eight points in the UVa run and Harrell added seven points as the Cavaliers built a 43-29 halftime lead.
Virginia made seven of eight three-point attempts (87.5 percent) in the first half and shot 66.7 percent (14-21) overall from the field in the first 20 minutes.
The Cavaliers led by as many as 18 points in the second half, including a 67-49 lead with 2:49 to play. Georgia Tech closed the game on a 15-5 run to narrow the final margin to eight points.
Farrakhan (13.0 ppg.), Harrell (10.5 ppg.) and Harris (10.3 ppg.) are all averaging in double figures in scoring for the Cavaliers. Junior center Assane Sene is averaging 4.5 rebounds and 1.2 blocked shots a game. Sophomore guard Jontel Evans leads UVa in assists (73, 3.8 apg.) and steals (28, 1.5 spg.).
Evans ranks fifth in the ACC in assists, seventh in steals and ninth in assist to turnover ratio (1.9), while Harris is 10th in the conference in three-point field goals made (37, 1.9 pg.). Farrakhan is sixth in the ACC in free throw percentage (81.8 percent, 63-77) and tied for 13th in scoring (13.0 ppg.).
As a team Virginia ranks second in the conference in rebounding defense (32.6), third in three-point field goal percentage (38.8 percent, 135-348) and fourth in scoring defense (63.0) and three-point field goals made per game (7.1).
Maryland leads the series with Virginia 105-68, but UVa leads 43-40 in games played in Charlottesville. The Terrapins won both games played between the teams last season. The Cavaliers have won three of the four games played between the two teams at John Paul Jones Arena.
Maryland enters Thursday’s game with an overall record of 12-7 and a 2-3 record in the ACC. The Terrapins are coming off a 79-77 victory over Clemson at home last Saturday (Jan. 22).
Sophomore forward Jordan Williams leads Maryland in scoring and rebounding. He is averaging 17.6 points and 12.1 rebounds a game and has 17 double-doubles on the season. Williams has had a double-double in each of the last 13 games.
Senior guard/forward Cliff Tucker is the only other player averaging in double figures in scoring for Maryland. Tucker is averaging 11.6 points a game. Freshman guard Terrell Stoglin is averaging 9.5 points a game and senior guard Adrian Bowie is averaging 9.3 points a game. Bowie leads the Terrapins in assists (71, 3.7 apg.).
Gary Williams is in his 22nd season as Maryland’s head coach. His Maryland teams have compiled an overall record of 454-245 and the Terrapins won the 2002 National Championship.
After the Maryland game the Cavaliers return to action on Saturday (Jan. 29) at Wake Forest. That game is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. and will be televised by the ACC Network.