No. 1 Virginia at Pitt
Date & Time
Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018 | 4 p.m. ET
Location Petersen Events Center | Pittsburgh, Pa.
Coverage ESPNU | ACC Network Extra |
Cavaliers Live | Gametracker
Additional Info Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Game Notes


Feb. 23, 2018

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Top-ranked Virginia (25-2, 14-1 ACC) travels to Pitt (8-21, 0-16 ACC) for an ACC men’s basketball contest on Saturday, Feb. 24. Tipoff at Petersen Events Center (12,500) is set for 4 p.m.

For Openers
– Virginia is first in the ACC at 14-1 and Pitt is 15th at 0-16.
– UVA clinched the No. 1 seed for the ACC Tournament and share of its eighth ACC regular-season title (third in five years) with its 65-54 win over Georgia Tech.

Broadcast Information
– The Virginia-Pitt 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.

The Head Coaches
Virginia: Tony Bennett (Green Bay, 1992), 213-85 in nine seasons at UVA and 282-118 in 12 seasons overall.
Pitt: Kevin Stallings (Purdue, 1982), 24-38 in two seasons at Pitt and 479-321 in 25 seasons overall.

A Win at Pitt Would Give:
– UVA its third outright ACC regular-season title in history.
– UVA 15 or more league wins for the third time in history.
– The Cavaliers a school-record nine-game ACC road winning streak.
– UVA a 23-3 all-time record as the No. 1 team in the nation.
– UVA a three-game winning streak vs. the Panthers.

UVA Ranked No. 1 For Second Consecutive Week
– Virginia is ranked No. 1 in the AP poll for the second straight week.
– On Feb. 12, UVA earned its first No. 1 ranking since Dec. 21, 1982 (650 weeks between No. 1 rankings).
– The Cavaliers are the first team to ascend to No. 1 following a loss (a 61-60 setback to in-state rival Virginia Tech).
– UVA is 22-3 all-time in the 13 weeks as the top-ranked team.
– The Cavaliers are the fourth team in the Top 25 era (1990-present) to earn a No. 1 ranking after being unranked in the preseason (Kansas, 1990; Syracuse, 2010; Baylor, 2017).
– UVA has been ranked in the AP poll for 13 straight weeks and has been ranked in the top 10 in each of the past nine polls.
– Virginia is the fifth team in ACC history to move from unranked in preseason to the top 3, joining Miami (2012-13), Georgia Tech (2003-04), Wake Forest (1980-81) and North Carolina (1972-73).
– UVA is the lone ACC team to be ranked in the top 3 in four of the past five seasons.
– 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 in Ken Pom Efficiency Ratings
– UVA ranks No. 1 in the KenPom.com overall and adjusted defense efficiency ratings and No. 37 in the adjusted offense ratings.
– UVA is shooting 46.1 percent, 38.4 percent from 3-point range and 76.3 percent from the free throw line (best in school history).
– UVA has shot 50 percent or better in nine games and limited its opponents to less than 50 percent shooting in 26 of 27 games.

Last Time Out
Ty Jerome scored 18 points and dished out five assists as top-ranked Virginia held off depleted Georgia Tech 65-54 on Feb. 21, clinching the regular season title and top seed in the ACC Tournament.
– The Cavaliers (25-2, 14-1), who also got nine points each from De’Andre Hunter and Mamadi Diakite, led just 31-30 at halftime.
– UVA had six turnovers and owned a 19-4 margin in bench points.
– Ben Lammers scored 22 points to lead the Yellow Jackets (11-17, 4-11) and Tadric Jackson added 15.

All-Time Against Pitt
– UVA is 13-4 all-time vs. Pitt in the series that dates back to 1957-58.
– UVA went 2-1 vs. the Panthers last season, including a 75-63 win in the second round of the 2017 ACC Tournament in Brooklyn, N.Y.
– The Cavaliers went 1-1 vs. Pitt during the 2016-17 regular-season, including a 67-42 win in Charlottesville on March 4, 2017.
– UVA is 6-1 against Pitt since 2013-14 when the Panthers joined the ACC.
– UVA allowed a season-high in points in its overtime loss at Pitt last season.
– UVA is 5-3 all-time at Pitt and a 2-1 at Petersen Events Center.

Last Time Against the Panthers
Kyle Guy matched a then-career high with 20 points and London Perrantes added 15 to send No. 6 seed Virginia to a 75-63 win over No. 14 seed Pitt in ACC Tournament second-round action on March 8, 2017.
– Virginia went 11-of-22 from 3-point range, reaching double figures in made 3-pointers for the fourth straight game.
– UVA’s bench outscored Pitt’s reserves, 23-0, marking the second time an opposing team’s bench did not score against UVA last season.
Ty Jerome added11 points and Isaiah Wilkins had a team-high eight rebounds.
– UVA held Pitt without a field goal for the final 7:30 of the first half.

Getting Defensive
– UVA has limited its foes to 52.7 points per game (2nd best in school history) and has held 11 opponents to fewer than 50 points (UNCG, Austin Peay, Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, Savannah State, Hampton, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, Clemson and Syracuse).
– Six opponents (UNCG, Austin Peay, Savannah State, North Carolina, Georgia Tech & Clemson) have committed more turnovers than made field goals.
– UVA has held 21 opponents to 60 or fewer points.
– UVA has held 20 foes to less than 43 percent shooting.
– The Cavaliers have held 15 opponents to 30 percent or less shooting from 3-point range.
– The Cavaliers are 75-2 when limiting their opponents to fewer than 50 points under head coach Tony Bennett (11-0 in 2017-18).
– 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 and finished in the top-five nationally in eight of 11 seasons.

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 67.6 points per game 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 27 games. – UVA is one of five schools to have the same starting five this season (Central Michigan, Davidson, Montana, Old Dominion and Penn).
– Guy leads the team in scoring at 14.9 points per game and has reached double figures in 23 games, including a career-high 29 points at VCU (11/17/17).
– Hall has averaged 12 points and Wilkins is averaging team-highs in rebounds (6.5) and blocked shots (1.5).
– Jerome is averaging 10 points and team highs in assists (3.9 apg) and steals (1.5 spg). – Salt has chipped in 4.0 rebounds per game and 21 blocked shots.
– Redshirt freshman De’Andre Hunter (8.9 ppg) has reached double figures in eight ACC games, including team highs at Georgia Tech (17), Virginia Tech (14), Syracuse (15) and Miami (22).
– Hunter was named ACC Co-Rookie of the Week following his 22-point performance at Miami.
– Graduate transfer Nigel Johnson is averaging 5.0 points and Mamadi Diakite has added 5.0 ppg & 3.0 rpg.
– Jay Huff and Marco Anthony provide depth and fellow rookie Francesco Badocchi is redshirting the 2017-18 season.

The Long and Winning Road
– Virginia is 8-1, including a 7-0 mark in ACC play, in true road games.
– UVA has posted wins at VCU, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, Duke, Syracuse, Florida State, Miami and a loss at West Virginia.
– The Cavaliers’ seven-game road winning streak is currently the fourth longest in Division I.
– UVA has tied its school record of eight consecutive league road wins dating back to last season. The Cavaliers also won eight straight road league games in 2014-15.
– UVA’s 33-19 (.635) ACC road record over the past six seasons ranks first ahead of North Carolina (32-21, .604) and Duke (29-24, .547).

On the Horizon
– No. 1 Virginia plays at Louisville on Thursday, March 1. Tipoff at KFC Yum! Center is set for 8 p.m. on the ACC Network. The Cavaliers defeated Louisville 74-64 on Jan. 31 at John Paul Jones Arena.