No. 8 UVA Battles Virginia Tech in Commonwealth Clash

Jan. 2, 2018

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 8 Virginia (12-1, 1-0 ACC) battles in-state rival Virginia Tech (11-3, 0-1 ACC) in ACC action on Wednesday, Jan. 3. Tipoff at Cassell Coliseum is set for 9 p.m.

For Openers
– The Virginia-Virginia Tech game is part of the Commonwealth Clash presented by Virginia529, which is a head-to-head, points-based competition between the athletic teams of the Cavaliers and Hokies. – Virginia is 5-3 in ACC road openers under head coach Tony Bennett.
– Bennett became the third fastest Virginia head coach to achieve 200 wins (284 games) after UVA’s 59-58 victory over Boston College.
– As of Jan. 2, the Cavaliers rank first nationally in scoring defense (52.8 ppg), second in turnovers per game (9.2), third in field goal percentage defense (36.4%), eighth in fouls per game (14.8), 12th in scoring margin (18.3), 16th in turnover margin (4.7), 17th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.5) and 29th in free throw percentage (76.1%).

Broadcast Information
– The Virginia-Virginia Tech contest will be televised on the ACC Network and streamed 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), 200-84 in nine seasons at UVA and 269-117 in 12 seasons overall.
Virginia Tech: Buzz Williams (Oklahoma City University, 1994), 64-51 in four seasons at Virginia Tech and 217-137 in 11 seasons overall.

More on the Commonwealth Clash
– The Commonwealth Clash encourages a friendly, statewide rivalry between the two schools across all school-sponsored sports with 21 individual event points on the line.
– The school that accumulates 11 points or more will be crowned the winner and take home the Virginia529 Commonwealth Clash trophy.
– The UVA-VT game is worth a half point in the Clash and the Hokies lead this year’s Clash 4-1.
– UVA captured the Clash in 2015 and 2016.

UVA Ranked No. 8 in Latest AP Poll
– UVA is ranked a season-high No. 8 in the Jan. 1 AP poll and No. 9 in the Dec. 25 USA Today Coaches’ poll. – UVA has been ranked in the AP poll for six straight weeks and has been ranked in the top 10 in the past two polls.
– 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 polls from 2014-16.

UVA in Ken Pom Efficiency Ratings
– As of Jan. 2, UVA ranks Nos. 1, 5 and 41 in the KenPom.com adjusted defense, overall and adjusted offense efficiency ratings.
– UVA is shooting 47.7 percent, 39.2 percent from 3-point range (2nd best in school history) and 76.1 percent from the free throw line (2nd best in school history).
– UVA has shot 50 percent or better in seven games and limited its opponents to less than 50 percent shooting in all 13 games.

Last Time Out
– Ty Jerome hit 6 of 9 3-point tries and scored a career-high 31 points, including two free throws with 53 seconds left, as the Cavaliers held off Boston College 59-58 on Dec. 30.
– Kyle Guy added 11 points and Isaiah Wilkins had eight with 14 rebounds and four blocks for the Cavaliers, who ended BC’s five-game winning streak.
– Jerome Robinson led the Eagles (10-4, 1-1) with 29 points and Jordan Chatman had 18. Boston College scoring leader Ky Bowman (16.8 ppg) didn’t score until just 11:03 remained and finished with five points on 2-for-10 shooting.

All-Time Against Virginia Tech
– Virginia is 90-55 all-time vs. Virginia Tech, including a 20-30 mark in Blacksburg, in the series that dates back to 1914-15.
– The Cavaliers are 5-2 in their last seven games against the Hokies at Cassell Coliseum and 8-2 in its last 10 meetings vs. the Hokies overall.
– Head coach Tony Bennett is 11-5 all-time vs. Virginia Tech.

Last Time Against the Hokies
– Seth Allen hit a short jumper with three seconds left in double overtime to send Virginia Tech to an 80-78 win over then-No. 12 Virginia on Feb. 12, 2017.
– London Perrantes led four Cavaliers in double figures with a game-high 22 points.
– Kyle Guy added 12 points, Marial Shayok added 11 and Devon Hall had 10 in the Commonwealth Clash.
– Virginia Tech erased a 14-point UVA halftime advantage and sent the game to overtime on a Ty Outlaw tip-in at the buzzer.
– Isaiah Wilkins had a game-high nine rebounds.

Getting Defensive
– UVA has limited its foes to 52.8 points per game (2nd best in school history) and has held six opponents to fewer than 50 points (UNCG, Austin Peay, Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, Savannah State and Hampton).
– UVA has held nine foes to less than 43 percent shooting.
– The Cavaliers are 70-2 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 95-3 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 71.1 points per game (most under Bennett) on offense, while yielding a nation-leading 52.8 ppg (second lowest in school history) on defense.
– UVA has started Ty Jerome, Kyle Guy, Hall, Wilkins and Salt in each of its 13 games.
– Guy leads the team in scoring at 15.7 points per game and has reached double figures in 11 games, including a career-high 29 points at VCU (11/17/17) and 21 vs. Lehigh (12/2/17).
– Hall has averaged 11.5 points and is shooting 88.1 percent (30 of 34) from the charity stripe and 43.9 percent (18 of 41) from 3-point range.
– Wilkins is averaging 7.3 points and team-highs in rebounds (7.5), blocked shots (1.4) and steals (1.3).
– Jerome is averaging 9.7 points and Salt has chipped in 4.3 rebounds per game.
– Graduate transfer Nigel Johnson is averaging 6.5 points after averaging 11.3 points for Rutgers last season.
– Mamadi Diakite (6.1 ppg & 3.8 rpg) and redshirt freshmen De’Andre Hunter (6 ppg) and Jay Huff (4.6 ppg) are key role players.
– Marco Anthony provides depth and fellow rookie Francesco Badocchi is expected to redshirt the 2017-18 season.

On the Horizon
– No. 8 Virginia hosts No. 12 North Carolina on Saturday, Jan. 6. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 1 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN.