NCAA Preview: No. 1 Seed UVA vs. No. 16 Seed UMBC

March 14, 2018

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 1 overall seed Virginia (31-2) plays No. 16 seed UMBC (24-10) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, March 16 in Charlotte, N.C. Tipoff at Spectrum Center (20,200) is set for approximately 9:20 p.m.

For Openers
– Virginia is the No. 1 overall NCAA Tournament seed for first time.
– UVA earned the ACC’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, while UMBC earned the America East Conference’s automatic bid.
– UVA is entering the NCAA Tournament as the nation’s top-ranked team for the first time.
– ACC Sixth Man of the Year De’Andre Hunter will miss the NCAA Tournament with a broken left wrist.
– UVA has won a school-record 31 games and has won 30 or more games under head coach Tony Bennett three times (2014, 2015 & 2018).
– UMBC head coach Ryan Odom is the son of former UVA assistant coach and Wake Forest head coach Dave Odom. UVA Director of Recruiting/Player Development Orlando Vandross was an assistant with Ryan Odom at Charlotte from 2010-15.
– The Cavaliers rank first nationally in scoring defense at 53.4 ppg and turnovers per game (8.6).

Broadcast Information
– The Virginia-UMBC contest will be televised on TNT and streamed online via NCAA March Madness Live
– The game will be broadcast on the Virginia Sports Radio Network and Westwood One/NCAA Radio Network on Sirius (137) and XM (201).
– Live statistics will be located on VirginiaSports.com and Virginia Sports app.

The Head Coaches
Virginia: Tony Bennett (Green Bay, 1992), 219-85 in nine seasons at UVA and 288-118 in 12 seasons overall.
UMBC: Ryan Odom (Hampton-Sydney, 1996), 45-23 in two seasons at UMBC and 74-44 in four seasons overall.

All-Time in the NCAA Tournament
– UVA is 29-21 all-time in 21 NCAA Tournament appearances.
– The Cavaliers will make their school-record fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
– UVA earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time, including its third in the last five years under Tony Bennett.
– UVA is 12-5 as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
– Last season, No. 5 seed UVA defeated No. 12 seed UNC Wilmington 76-71 in the first round before losing 65-39 to No. 4 seed Florida in the second round.
– UVA reached the NCAA Final Four in 1981 and 1984.
– Virginia head coach Tony Bennett is 10-7 in seven NCAA tournaments, including a 7-5 record at UVA.

A Win vs. UMBC Would:
– Give UVA a win in its NCAA Tournament opener in each of the last five years.
– Extend UVA’s school record for wins to 32.
– Give UVA a 30-21 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament.
– Give UVA a 13-5 record as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
– Give UVA a 4-0 record against UMBC.
– Give UVA a 10-0 record against current America East members.
– Give UVA a 29-3 all-time record as the No. 1 team in the nation.
– Give UVA a nine-game winning streak overall.
– Give UVA an 3-2 record at Spectrum Center.
– Give UVA a 13-17 all-time mark in Charlotte.
– Give Tony Bennett an 11-7 record in the NCAA Tournament.

All-Time vs. UMBC
– Virginia is 3-0 all-time vs. UMBC in a series that dates back to 1990.
– The Cavaliers meet the Retrievers for the first time since Dec. 28, 2005, when Virginia won 77-66 in Richmond, Va.
– The Cavaliers are 2-0 against UMBC in Charlottesville, including wins an 85-69 win on Dec. 23, 1990, and 57-34 win on Dec. 21, 1996.

Last Time vs. UMBC
– J.R Reynolds scored 20, including 14 in the second half, as Virginia pulled ahead to beat UMBC 77-66 on Dec. 28, 2005.
– Mamadi Diane and Jason Cain each had 16 for the Cavaliers, and Adrian Joseph had 10. Cain added 12 rebounds.
– Reserve Brian Hodges had 23 for UMBC and Jay Greene added 12.

Last Time Out
– MVP Kyle Guy scored 16 points and Devon Hall added 15 as No. 1 seed Virginia claimed its third ACC Tournament championship with a 71-63 win over No. 6 seed North Carolina on March 10.
– Ty Jerome added 12 points, six rebounds and six assists as regular-season and tournament champion UVA finished 20-1 against ACC competition.
– UVA ended a seven-game postseason losing streak to North Carolina, holding the Tar Heels scoreless for more than five minutes during the second half in the win.
– UNC was led by Luke Maye’s 20 points and Joel Berry II added 17.
– UVA held the Tar Heels to a pair of fastbreak points and owned an 18-6 advantage in bench scoring.

UVA in the National Statistical Rankings
– UVA ranks first nationally in scoring defense (53.4 ppg), turnovers per game (8.6) and winning percentage (93.9%), third in fouls per game (14.1) and field goal percentage defense (37.5%), sixth in 3-point field goal percentage defense (30.3%), seventh in scoring margin (14.2), eighth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.6) and turnover margin (4.2) and 29th in 3-point field goal percentage (39%).

UVA Ranked No. 1 For Fourth Consecutive Week
– Virginia is ranked No. 1 in the AP poll for the fifth 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 28-3 all-time in the 16 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 16 straight weeks and has been ranked in the top 10 in each of the past 12 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.

Hoos in Charlotte
– Virginia is 12-17 all-time in Charlotte (3-2 vs. Davidson, 7-13 in the ACC Tournament, 2-2 in the NCAA Tournament).
– The Cavaliers are 2-2 at the former Time Warner Cable Arena and current Spectrum Center.
– UVA posted wins against Belmont (79-67, 2015 NCAA first round) and Davidson (70-57, 2013-14 regular season) and losses against Georgia Tech (2008 ACC Tournament first round) and Michigan State (60-54 in 2015 NCAA second round).
– The Cavaliers made their first NCAA Tournament appearance in Charlotte in 1976, losing to DePaul 69-60 in the first round.
– Virginia also defeated Villanova 54-50 in Charlotte during the second round of the 1981 NCAA Tournament.
– UVA reached the ACC Tournament final in Charlotte in 1990 and 1994.

Cavaliers Against the Field of 68
– Virginia competed against 12 teams which qualified for the NCAA Tournament, posting a 14-2 record in 16 games.
– UVA went 2-0 vs. Clemson, 1-0 vs. North Carolina, 2-0 vs. Syracuse, 1-0 vs. Davidson, 1-0 vs. Duke, 1-0 vs. Florida State, 1-0 vs. Miami, 1-0 vs. NC State, 1-0 vs. UNC Greensboro, 1-0 vs. Rhode Island, 1-1 vs. Virginia Tech and 0-1 vs. West Virginia.

UVA No. 1 in Ken Pom Efficiency Ratings
– UVA ranks No. 1 in the KenPom.com overall and adjusted defense efficiency ratings and No. 21 in the adjusted offense ratings.
– UVA is shooting 46.1 percent, 39 percent from 3-point range and 75.8 percent from the free throw line.
– UVA has shot 50 percent or better in 11 games and limited its opponents to less than 50 percent shooting in 32 of 33 games.

Getting Defensive
– UVA is allowing 53.4 points per game (2nd best in school history).
– The Cavs allowed 53.1 points per ACC game, marking the third-lowest figure in ACC history.
– UVA has held 24 opponents to 60 or fewer points.
– UVA has held 12 opponents to fewer than 50 points (UNCG, Austin Peay, Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, Savannah State, Hampton, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, Clemson, Syracuse and Pitt).
– UVA has held three opponents to fewer than 40 points (Wisconsin, Clemson and Pitt).
– Six opponents (UNCG, Austin Peay, Savannah State, North Carolina, Georgia Tech & Clemson) have committed more turnovers than made field goals.
– UVA has held 25 foes to less than 43 percent shooting.
– The Cavaliers have held 17 opponents to 30 percent or less shooting from 3-point range.
– 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 67.5 points per game on offense, while yielding a nation-leading 53.4 ppg on defense. – UVA has started the lineup of Ty Jerome, Kyle Guy, Hall, Wilkins and Salt in 32 games.
– Guy leads the team in scoring at 14.1 points per game and has reached double figures in 27 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 (6.3) and blocked shots (1.5).
– Jerome is averaging 10.5 points and team highs in assists (3.9 apg) and steals (1.6 spg).
– Salt has chipped in 4.1 rebounds per game and 22 blocked shots.
– Redshirt freshman De’Andre Hunter (9.2 ppg) has reached double figures in 16 games.
– Graduate transfer Nigel Johnson is averaging 4.7 points and Mamadi Diakite has added 5.2 ppg & 2.9 rpg.
– Jay Huff and Marco Anthony provide depth and fellow rookie Francesco Badocchi is redshirting the 2017-18 season.

UVA vs. Creighton and Kansas State
– If Virginia defeats UMBC, the Cavaliers would meet No. 8 seed Creighton (21-11) of the BIG EAST Conference or No. 9 seed Kansas State (22-11) of the Big 12 Conference in the NCAA second round on Sunday, March 18.
– UVA would meet Creighton or Kansas State for the first time.
– UVA is 14-18 all-time against current Big 12 Conference members (0-1 vs. Baylor, 2-2 vs. Iowa State, 1-2 vs. Kansas, 2-1 vs. Oklahoma, 0-1 vs. Oklahoma State, 0-1 vs. TCU and 9-10 vs. West Virginia).
– UVA went 0-1 against the Big 12 this season (68-61 loss at West Virginia) and is 3-0 all-time against current Big 12 foes (1-0 vs. Iowa State, 1-0 vs. Kansas and 1-0 vs. Oklahoma) in the NCAA Tournament.
– UVA is 2-2 all-time against current BIG EAST opponents in the NCAA Tournament (1-0 vs. Villanova, 1-0 vs. Providence and 0-2 vs. DePaul).

On the Horizon
– The NCAA South Regional will be held at Phillips Arena in Atlanta, Ga., on Thursday and Saturday, March 22 & 24.