No. 2 Seed Virginia Opens NCAA Tournament Against No. 15 Seed Belmont

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March 19, 2015

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – No. 2 seed Virginia (29-3) plays No. 15 seed Belmont (22-10) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday (March 20). Tipoff at Time Warner Cable Arena is approximately 3:10 p.m.

For Openers
• UVa earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament, while Belmont earned the Ohio Valley Conference’s automatic bid.
• The ACC regular-season champion Cavaliers are making their 19th NCAA Tournament appearance.
• The Cavaliers rank No. 1 nationally in scoring defense at 50.8 ppg, which is the third lowest average in the shot clock era (since 1986).
• Belmont guard Taylor Barnette played for Virginia during the 2012-13 season and averaged 2.6 points in 26 games. Barnette’s sister, Sarah Beth, is a senior on the Virginia women’s basketball team.

Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-Belmont game will be televised on truTV and streamed online at NCAA.com (March Madness on Demand).
• The game will be broadcast on the Virginia Sports Radio Network and Westwood One/NCAA Radio Network on Sirius and XM.
• Live statistics will be located on VirginiaSports.com and Virginia Sports app.

The Head Coaches
Virginia: Tony Bennett (Green Bay, 1992), 135-63 in six seasons at UVa and 204-96 in nine seasons overall.
Belmont: Rick Byrd (Tennessee, 1976), 619-311 in 29 seasons at Belmont and 711-366 in 34 seasons overall.

UVa Ranked No. 6 in Latest National Polls
• UVa is ranked No. 6 in the latest AP and USA Today coaches’ polls.
• UVa’s No. 6 ranking is its lowest since a No. 6 ranking on Dec. 15, 2014.
• The Cavaliers have been ranked in the top 10 for the first 20 weeks of the season for the first time since 1982-83.
• The Cavaliers achieved a No. 2 ranking this season for the first time since March 8, 1983.
• UVa is one of three teams (Duke and Arizona) that have been ranked in the top 10 for 22 straight weeks dating back to last season.

Virginia All-Time in the NCAA Tournament
• Virginia is 24-18 all-time in 18 NCAA Tournament appearances.
• UVa reached the NCAA Final Four in 1981 and 1984.
• UVa is making back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time since 1994-95.
• The Cavaliers reached their eighth NCAA Regional semifinal appearance last season and lost 61-59 to Michigan State.

All-Time vs. Belmont
• Virginia and Belmont are meeting for the first time in the NCAA Tournament and second time overall.
• Virginia is 1-0 all-time vs. Belmont in a series that dates back to the 1999-2000 season.
• UVa and Belmont have met one previous time, a 94-74 Cavalier victory at University Hall in Charlottesville on Dec. 28, 1999.

Last Time vs. Belmont
• Chris Williams led four Cavaliers in double figures with 20 points as Virginia posted the 94-74 win over the Bruins during the 1999-2000 season.
• Virginia shot 54.1 percent from the floor and made 11 3-pointers.
• B.J. Proffitt led the Bruins with 17 points.

On The Horizon
• The winner of the Virginia-Belmont contest will play Michigan State or Georgia in the NCAA third round on Sunday, March 22. • UVa is 0-4 all-time vs. Michigan State and 3-4 vs. Georgia.
• The Cavaliers lost to the Spartans 61-59 during the 2014 NCAA East Regional semifinals at Madison Square Garden in New York.