No. 5 Seed UVA Battles No. 4 Seed Florida on Saturday

March 17, 2017

ORLANDO, Fla. – No. 5 seed Virginia (23-10) plays No. 4 seed Florida (25-8) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, March 18. Tipoff at Amway Center in Orlando, Fla., is set for approximately 8:40 p.m.

For Openers
– UVA has 23 or more wins for a school-record fifth straight year.
– The Cavaliers rank first nationally in scoring defense at 56.1 ppg.
– UVA is 4-6 vs. ranked opponents in 2016-17.
– Senior guard London Perrantes became the first Cavalier to win an NCAA Tournament game in four straight years.

Broadcast Information
– The Virginia-Florida game will be televised on TNT 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 (136) and XM (202) and Internet (962).
– Live statistics will be located on VirginiaSports.com and Virginia Sports app.

The Head Coaches
Virginia: Tony Bennett (Green Bay, 1992), 188-82 in eight seasons at UVA and 257-115 in 11 seasons overall
Florida: Mike White (Ole Miss, 2000), 46-23 in two seasons at Florida and 147-63 in six seasons overall

All-Time in the NCAA Tournament
– UVA is making its fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance for the first time since 1981-84.
– UVA is making its fourth straight appearance in the Round of 32.
– Virginia is 29-20 all-time in 21 NCAA Tournament appearances.
– UVA has earned a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time and has a 4-4 record as a No. 5 seed.
– UVA reached the NCAA Final Four in 1981 and 1984.
– The Cavaliers reached their sixth NCAA Regional final appearance in 2016, losing 68-62 to No. 10 seed Syracuse.
– Virginia head coach Tony Bennett is 10-6 in seven NCAA tournaments, including a 7-4 record at UVA and 3-2 mark at Washington State.
– London Perrantes has averaged 10.9 points, 3.7 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 46.8 three-point field percentage (22 of 47) in 10 NCAA Tournament games.

UVA Ranked No. 24/23 in Latest Polls
– UVA is ranked No. 24 in the latest AP poll No. 23 in the USA Today Coaches’ poll. – UVA has ranked in the top 15 in 56 of the last 62 polls.
– UVA was ranked in top 10 in the preseason rankings (No. 8/7) for the third straight season, matching a school-best from 1981-83.
– UVA has been ranked in 64 consecutive AP polls since Feb. 3, 2014.
– UVA finished in the top 10 (No. 3 in 2014 & No. 6 in 2015 and No. 4 in 2016) in the final AP rankings in three consecutive seasons for the first time since 1981-83.

All-Time Against Florida
– Virginia is 1-1 all-time against Florida in the series that dates back to the 1991-92 season.
– UVA meets Florida for the third time in the postseason and first time since suffering a 71-45 loss to the Gators in the second round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament.
– UVA posted a 62-56 win over Florida in the 1992 NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden in the other meeting between the teams.

Last Time vs. the Gators
– Bradley Beal had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, and sophomore Casey Prather scored 14 points to lead No. 7 seed Florida to a 71-45 victory over No. 10 seed Virginia in the second round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament at the CenturyLink Center Omaha.
– Patric Young added 13 points and seven rebounds for the Gators.
– Mike Scott was the only player to score in double figures for Virginia with 15 points and he had a team-high six rebounds.
– Florida closed the first half on a 17-4 run to take a 30-22 lead.
– After the Cavaliers closed to within six in the second half at 36-30 with 17:31 left to play, Florida went on 17-2 run to take control of the game.

Last Time Out
– London Perrantes had 24 points and Marial Shayok added a career-high 23 as No. 5 seed Virginia beat No. 12 seed UNC Wilmington 76-71 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, March 16.
– UVA trailed 26-11, but closed the first half on an 18-4 run to take a 30-29 lead.
– Perrantes tallied 19 points and Shayok added 12 in the second half.
– Darius Thompson added 10 points, four rebounds and a career-high four blocked shots in the win.
– The Cavaliers owned a 28-2 advantage in bench points and shot 50 percent (26 of 52) in the win.

On The Horizon
– The Virginia-Florida winner will advance to the NCAA East Regional on Friday and Sunday, March 24 & 26 at Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y.