Savannah State Next for No. 13 Virginia

Dec. 18, 2017

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 13 Virginia (9-1) hosts Savannah State in men’s basketball non-conference action on Tuesday (Dec. 19). Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 7 p.m.

For Openers
– No. 13 Virginia meets Savannah State for the first time.
– As of Dec. 17, the Cavaliers rank first nationally in scoring defense (53.3 ppg), fourth in turnovers per game (9.1), 15th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.52), 18th in field goal percentage defense (37.8%) and fouls per game (15.3), 21st in scoring margin (17.2) and 22nd in free throw percentage (77.5%).
– Devon Hall is averaging 16.8 points and shooting 54.4 percent during his five-game double-figure scoring streak.

Broadcast Information
– The Virginia-Savannah State contest will be 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.

The Head Coaches
Virginia: Tony Bennett (Green Bay, 1992), 197-84 in nine seasons at UVA and 266-117 in 12 seasons overall.
Savannah State: Horace Broadnax (Georgetown, 1986), 159-221 in 13 seasons at Savannah State and 201-310 in 18 seasons overall.

UVA Ranked No. 13 in AP Poll
– UVA is ranked No. 13 in the latest AP poll and No. 14 in the USA Today Coaches’ poll.
– UVA has been ranked in the AP poll for four straight weeks.
– The Cavaliers received votes in the first three AP 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).

UVA vs. the MEAC
– UVA meets its first of two Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opponents in 2017-18 and first MEAC foe since posting an 81-45 win over Hampton in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
– Virginia is 26-0 all-time vs. the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (8-0 vs. Hampton, 4-0 vs. Howard and Norfolk State, 3-0 vs. Morgan State, 2-0 vs. Maryland Eastern Shore and South Carolina State, 1-0 vs. Bethune-Cookman, Coppin State and North Carolina A&T).
– Tony Bennett is 14-0 all-time vs. the MEAC as head coach at Virginia.

UVA in Ken Pom Efficiency Ratings
– As of Dec. 18, UVA ranks Nos. 1, 3 and 30 in the KenPom.com adjusted defense, overall and adjusted offense efficiency ratings.
– UVA is shooting 48.6 percent, 39.1 percent from 3-point range (2nd best in school history) and school-best 77.5 percent from the free throw line.
– UVA has shot 50 percent or better in six games.

Last Time Out
– Nigel Johnson scored 22 points and Devon Hall had a career-high 20 on Dec. 16 for No. 16 Virginia, which returned from a break for final exams to beat Davidson 80-60.
– Kyle Guy added 19 points for the Cavaliers (9-1), who were playing for the first time since losing 68-61 to No. 11 West Virginia on Dec. 5.
– The Wildcats (4-4) got 20 points from Peyton Aldridge and 12 from Oskar Michelsen. They made only 8 of 26 3-point attempts.
– Davidson led 18-11 with nine minutes left in the first half, but Guy hit a 3-pointer as Virginia started to shake off its rust. Guy’s basket sparked a 26-11 burst to end the half. Johnson scored 11 of his points in the run, and Hall hit a pair of 3-pointers.

Getting Defensive
– UVA has limited its opponents to 53.3 points per game (2nd best in school history) and has held four of its 2017-18 foes to fewer than 50 points (UNCG, Austin Peay, Vanderbilt and Wisconsin).
– UVA has held each of its 10 foes to less than 50 percent shooting.
– The Cavaliers are 68-2 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 93-3 when holding opponents to fewer than 50 points during his 12-year coaching career.

About the Cavaliers
– UVA is led by tri-captains Devon Hall, Isaiah Wilkins and Jack Salt.
– The announcement of Hall, Wilkins and Salt marked the first time in Bennett’s 12-year head coaching career where he officially named team captains.
– UVA has averaged 70.5 points per game (second most under Bennett) on offense, while yielding a nation-leading 53.3 ppg (second lowest in school history) on defense.
– UVA has started Ty Jerome, Kyle Guy, Hall, Wilkins and Salt in each of its first 10 games.
– Guy leads the team in scoring at 17 points per game and has scored 13 or more points in nine of 10 games, including a career-high 29 points at VCU (11/17/17) and 21 vs. Lehigh (12/2/17).
– Hall has averaged 13.3 points on 52.9 percent shooting and team-leading 92.6 percent (23 of 25) from the charity stripe and 47.1 percent (16 of 34) from 3-point range.
– Wilkins, who has averaged 7.9 points and a team-high 6.7 rebounds, has a team-high 11 blocked shots and 13 steals.
– Jerome is averaging 6.8 points and Salt is averaging 2.8 points and career-best 4.7 rebounds.
– Graduate transfer Nigel Johnson is averaging 7.2 points after averaging 11.3 points for Rutgers last season. Johnson has reached double figures in three contests off the bench.
– Mamadi Diakite (6.3 ppg & 4.1 rpg) and redshirt freshmen De’Andre Hunter (5.5 ppg) and Jay Huff (4.2 ppg) are key role players.
– Marco Anthony provides depth and fellow rookie Francesco Badocchi is expected to redshirt the 2017-18 season.

There’s No Place Like Home
– Virginia is 156-40 (.796), including a 6-0 mark in 2017-18, in 12 seasons at John Paul Jones Arena.
– UVA has an eight-game home win streak dating back to last year.
– The Cavaliers finished undefeated at home (15-0) in 2015-16.
– UVA is 118-24 (.831), including an 83-9 (.902) mark the past six seasons, at home under head coach Tony Bennett.
– Virginia is 41-4 in ACC home games over the past five seasons.
– UVA has won 11 or more home games for eight straight seasons.

On the Horizon
– Virginia hosts Hampton on Friday, Dec. 22. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast online on ACC Network Extra.