Virginia-Vanderbilt Clash on Thanksgiving Day

Nov. 21, 2017

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia (4-0) meets Vanderbilt in the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 23) in Brooklyn, N.Y. Tipoff at Barclays Center is set for 4 p.m.

For Openers
– Virginia meets Vanderbilt at the NIT Season Tip-Off in Brooklyn, N.Y.
– UVA has captured championships in each of its last four Thanksgiving holiday tournaments (Emerald Coast Classic, Charleston Classic, Barclays Center Classic and Corpus Christi Challenge).
– The Cavaliers meet the Commodores for the seventh time and first since the 1995-96 season.
– UVA has started 4-0 for the second straight season and is 104-33 (.759) in non-conference action under Tony Bennett.
– Kyle Guy is averaging a team-leading 18 points and is shooting 50 percent (9-of-18) from 3-point range.

Broadcast Information
– The Virginia-Vanderbilt contest will be televised on ESPNU and streamed online on ACC Network Extra (ESPN3.com) and ESPN App, and broadcast on the Virginia Sports Radio Network, VirginiaSports.com and Virginia Athletics mobile app on iTunes or Android.
– Live statistics will be located on VirginiaSports.com and the Virginia Sports app.

All-Time at Barclays Center
– UVA is 3-1 all-time at the Barclays Center.
– The Cavaliers went 1-1 at the 2017 ACC Tournament at Barclays Center, posting a win over Pitt (75-63) and loss to Notre Dame (71-58).
– UVA defeated La Salle (64-56) and Rutgers (45-26) en route to the 2014 Barclays Center Classic championship.
– Rutgers’ 26 points marked the fewest allowed by UVA and tied for second among ACC teams in the shot clock era (since 1986).

The Head Coaches
Virginia: Tony Bennett (Green Bay, 1992), 192-83 in nine seasons at UVA and 261-116 in 12 seasons overall.
Vanderbilt: Bryce Drew (Valparaiso, 1998), 21-18 in two seasons at Vanderbilt and 145-67 in seven seasons overall.

All-Time vs. Vanderbilt
– Virginia is 1-5 all-time vs. Vanderbilt in the series that dates back to the 1952-53 season.
– Vanderbilt has a two-game winning streak in the series, including a 61-48 victory over the Cavaliers in the last meeting on Dec. 12, 1995.
– UVA’s lone win in the series was a 70-56 win over Vanderbilt on Dec. 8, 1991 at University Hall in Charlottesville.
– UVA and Vanderbilt meet for first time on a neutral court.

UVA Ranked No. 25 in USA Today Coaches’ Poll
– UVA received votes in the latest Associated Press poll and was ranked No. 25 in the USA Today Coaches’ poll.
– The Cavaliers received votes in the preseason rankings in both polls, snapping a streak of 64 consecutive weeks in the AP rankings since Feb. 3, 2014.
– UVA was ranked in the top 10 in the preseason rankings in each of the past three seasons (2014-16).
– Last season, the Cavaliers ranked No. 24 in the final AP poll and received votes in the USA Today Coaches’ poll.

Last Time Out
– De’Andre Hunter scored a career-high 23 points to lead Virginia to a 73-53 win over Monmouth on Sunday, Nov. 19.
– Kyle Guy added 13 points and Mamadi Diakite chipped in 10 points and six rebounds.
– UVA, who had 44 points off the bench, shot 52.2 percent from the floor and 81 percent from the free throw line (17-of-21).
– UVA had a season-high nine steals and limited Monmouth to 33.3 percent field goal shooting.
– The Cavaliers outrebounded the Hawks 33-28.
– Louie Pillari led Monmouth with 14 points.

All-Time Against the Southeastern Conference
– Virginia is 60-62 all-time vs. current Southeastern Conference opponents (25-24 vs. South Carolina, 8-5 vs. Tennessee, 4-1 vs. Missouri, 4-3 vs. Arkansas, 3-0 vs. LSU, 3-4 vs. Alabama, 3-4 vs. Auburn, 3-4 vs. Georgia, 3-6 vs. Kentucky, 1-2 vs. Florida, 1-1 vs. Mississippi, 1-2 vs. Mississippi State, 1-5 vs. Vanderbilt and 0-1 vs. Texas A&M).

Getting Defensive
– UVA is allowing 54.2 points per game and has held two of its 2017-18 opponents to fewer than 50 points, limiting UNCG to 48 points and Austin Peay 49.
– The Cavaliers are 66-2 when limiting their opponents to fewer than 50 points under head coach Tony Bennett.
– In 2016-17, Virginia led the nation in scoring defense (56.4 ppg) for the third time under Bennett.
– Bennett-coached teams have led the nation in scoring defense four times (2008-09, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2016-17) and finished in the top-five nationally in eight of 11 seasons. – Bennett-coached teams are 91-3 when holding opponents to fewer than 50 points during his 12-year coaching career.

Hoo Are These Cavaliers?
– Virginia returns three starters – Devon Hall, Isaiah Wilkins and Jack Salt – and five other letterwinners including Kyle Guy, Ty Jerome and Mamadi Diakite from last year’s 23-11 team that advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
– UVA has started Ty Jerome, Kyle Guy, Devon Hall, Isaiah Wilkins and Jack Salt in each of its first four games.
– Hall is UVA’s top returning scorer at 8.4 points per game, which marks the third time in school history that UVA started the season without a returning double-digit scorer (1998-99, Colin Ducharme averaged 7.8 ppg in 1997-98 and 1969-70, Chip Case averaged 7.2 ppg in 1968-69).
– Guy leads UVA in scoring at 18 points per game and is shooting 51.1 percent from the floor, including 50 percent from 3-point range.
– Hall is averaging 11.5 points and 4.3 rebounds, while point guard Ty Jerome is averaging 7.5 points and a team-leading 2.5 assists.
– Wilkins is averaging 6.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.5 steals.
– Salt is averaging 3.0 points and 3.3 rebounds, while graduate transfer Nigel Johnson is averaging 6.8 points after averaging 11.3 points for Rutgers last season.
– Diakite (5.3 ppg & 3.8 rpg) and redshirt freshmen De’Andre Hunter (9.5 ppg) and Jay Huff (6.7 ppg) are key contributors off the bench.
– Marco Anthony provides depth and fellow rookie Francesco Badocchi is expected to redshirt the 2017-18 season.

On the Horizon
– Virginia plays Rhode Island or Seton Hall on Friday, Nov. 24 at the NIT Season Tip-Off in Brooklyn, N.Y. Tipoff at Barclays Center will be 7:30 or 9:45 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPNU or ESPNEWS.