No. 13 Virginia Hosts Hampton Friday Night

Dec. 21, 2017

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 13 Virginia (10-1) closes out non-conference play vs. Hampton on Friday (Dec. 22). Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 7 p.m.

For Openers
– No. 13 Virginia meets Hampton for the first time since beating the Pirates, 81-45, in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
– As of Dec. 20, the Cavaliers rank first nationally in scoring defense (52.7 ppg), fifth in turnovers per game (9.4), 10th in field goal percentage defense (36.8%) and scoring margin (18.5),13th in fouls per game (15.0), 15th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.51) and 22nd in free throw percentage (76.9%).

Broadcast Information
– The Virginia-Hampton 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), 198-84 in nine seasons at UVA and 267-117 in 12 seasons overall.
Hampton: Edward Joyner, Jr. (Johnson C. Smith, 1995), 139-132 in nine seasons at Hampton

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 second consecutive Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opponent after defeating Savannah State, 78-47, on Dec. 19.
– Virginia is 27-0 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, North Carolina A&T and Savannah State).
– Tony Bennett is 15-0 all-time vs. the MEAC as head coach at Virginia.

UVA in Ken Pom Efficiency Ratings
– As of Dec. 21, UVA ranks Nos. 1, 3 and 30 in the KenPom.com adjusted defense, overall and adjusted offense efficiency ratings.
– UVA is shooting 48.7 percent, 38.9 percent from 3-point range (2nd best in school history) and school-best 76.9 percent from the free throw line.
– UVA has shot 50 percent or better in seven games.

Last Time Out
– Sophomore guard Ty Jerome scored a career-high 17 points, hitting all three of his 3-point attempts, as No. 13 Virginia breezed through its next-to-last non-conference tune-up, topping Savannah State 78-47 on Tuesday night.
– Virginia (10-1) got 10 points and five rebounds from junior center Jack Salt (Auckland, New Zealand) as the Cavaliers built a 42-21 halftime lead and never looked back.
– Savannah State (3-11), which has attempted the most 3-pointers in the nation, missed its first nine shots from beyond the arc. The Tigers finished 11 for 37 on 3-pointers. It got a team-high 22 points from junior forward John Grant.
– Savannah State didn’t score its first points until 4:43 into the game.

All-Time Against Hampton
– UVA is 8-0 all-time against Hampton in the series that dates back to the 1998-99 season.
– The Cavaliers are 6-0 vs. the Pirates in Charlottesville and meet at John Paul Jones Arena for the first time since Nov. 26, 2013, when UVA posted an 69-40 win over Hampton.
– Virginia has a 31.1 average margin of victory in the series.
– Tony Bennett is 3-0 all-time vs. Hampton, posting wins in 2009, 2013 and 2016.

Getting Defensive
– UVA has limited its foes to 52.7 points per game (2nd best in school history) and has held five of its opponents to fewer than 50 points (UNCG, Austin Peay, Vanderbilt, Wisconsin and Savannah State).
– UVA has held each of its 11 foes to less than 50 percent shooting.
– The Cavaliers are 69-2 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 94-3 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 71.2 points per game (most under Bennett) on offense, while yielding a nation-leading 52.7 ppg (second lowest in school history) on defense.
– UVA has started Ty Jerome, Kyle Guy, Hall, Wilkins and Salt in each of its 11 games.
– Guy leads the team in scoring at 16.2 points per game and has scored 13 or more points in nine games, including a career-high 29 points at VCU (11/17/17) and 21 vs. Lehigh (12/2/17).
– Hall has averaged 12.7 points on 52.7 percent shooting and team-leading 92.6 percent (23 of 25) from the charity stripe and 47.2 percent (17 of 36) from 3-point range.
– Wilkins, who has averaged 7.4 points and a team-high 6.7 rebounds, has a team-high 11 blocked shots and 14 steals.
– Jerome is averaging 7.4 points and Salt is averaging a career-best 4.5 rebounds.
– Graduate transfer Nigel Johnson is averaging 6.7 points after averaging 11.3 points for Rutgers last season. Johnson has reached double figures in three contests off the bench.
– Mamadi Diakite (6.6 ppg & 3.9 rpg) and redshirt freshmen De’Andre Hunter (5.8 ppg) and Jay Huff (4.4 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 157-40 (.797), including a 7-0 mark in 2017-18, in 12 seasons at John Paul Jones Arena. – UVA has a nine-game home win streak dating back to last year.
– The Cavaliers finished undefeated at home (15-0) in 2015-16.
– UVA is 119-24 (.832), including an 84-9 (.903) 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
– No. 13 Virginia opens ACC play against Boston College on Saturday, Dec. 30. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the Regional Sports Network.