No. 4 Virginia Opens Battle 4 Atlantis Against Middle Tennessee
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NASSAU, Bahamas – No. 4 Virginia (3-0) opens the Battle 4 Atlantis against Middle Tennessee (3-1) on Wednesday (Nov. 21). Tipoff at Imperial Arena in The Bahamas is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. on ESPN2.
For Openers
• UVA meets Middle Tennessee for the second time.
• The Cavaliers own a nation-leading 21-game winning streak in the month of November dating back to the 2015-16 season.
• UVA is 117-35 (.770) in non-conference action under Tony Bennett.
• The Cavaliers have captured championships in each of their last five Thanksgiving holiday tournaments (Emerald Coast Classic, Charleston Classic, Barclays Center Classic, Corpus Christi Challenge, NIT Season Tip-Off).
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-Middle Tennessee game will be televised on ESPN2 and streamed online on ACC Network Extra (WatchESPN.com) and broadcast on the Virginia Sports Radio Network, VirginiaSports.com and Virginia Sports app.
• Live statistics will be located on VirginiaSports.com and the Virginia Sports app.
The Head Coach
• Three-time National and ACC Coach of the Year Tony Bennett has a 222-86 (.721) mark in 10 seasons at Virginia and 291-118 (.712) career mark in 13 seasons overall.
• In 2017-18, Bennett led Virginia to its eighth ACC regular-season title, third ACC Tournament championship, school-record 31 wins, ACC-record 17 league wins and ACC-record 9-0 mark on the road.
• Bennett was named the USBWA Henry Iba National Coach of the Year for the third time to rank second all-time behind legendary John Wooden, who captured the award six times.
UVA Ranked No. 4 in AP Poll
• Virginia is ranked No. 4 in the AP poll for the second straight week.
• UVA was ranked No. 5 in the preseason polls and has been ranked in the top 10 in the preseason rankings in four of the past five seasons.
• The Cavaliers were unranked in the 2017-18 preseason polls, but became the fourth team in the Top 25 era (1990-present) to earn a No. 1 ranking after being unranked in the preseason.
• Dating back to last season, UVA has been ranked in the AP poll for 19 straight weeks and has been ranked in the top 10 in each of the past 15 polls.
Last Time Out
• De’Andre Hunter had a season-high 20 points and Mamadi Diakite added a career-high 18 points as No. 4 Virginia routed Coppin State 97-40 on Friday, Nov. 16.
• UVA’s 97 points were its most under 10th-year head coach Tony Bennett and the 57-point win was the third largest in school history.
• Ty Jerome added 11 points and six assists and Kihei Clark sank a trio of 3-pointers in the lopsided win.
• UVA shot 60.3 percent from the field and went 15 of 25 from 3-point range.
All-Time vs. the Blue Raiders
• UVA is 1-0 all-time against Middle Tennessee in a series that dates back to the 1988-89 season.
• No. 5 seed Virginia defeated No. 13 seed Middle Tennesee 104-88 in the second round of the 1989 NCAA Tournament in Nashville, Tenn.
• Richard Morgan had a game-high 33 points, while Bryant Stith added 26 points and John Crotty chipped in 25 in the win.
• UVA shot 54.7 percent from the floor and went 27 of 34 from the charity stripe.
• Randy Henry and Chris Rainey led Middle Tennessee with 23 points apiece.
Hoo Are These Cavaliers?
• Virginia is led by Ty Jerome, Kyle Guy, De’Andre Hunter and Jack Salt.
• Jerome leads UVA with 17 points and 5.7 assists per game.
• Guy is averaging 11.7 points, while De’Andre Hunter is averaging 14.3 points and Salt is the lone senior on the team.
• Salt missed the Coppin State game with back stiffness, ending his 70-game starting streak.
• Transfer Braxton Key has averaged 6.3 points and 6.3 rebounds, while Mamadi Diakite has averaged 10 points and 2.7 rebounds.
• Newcomer Kihei Clark is averaging 5.0 points and 3.7 assists, and Jay Huff is averaging 6.7 points and 2.7 rebounds.
• Back-up guard Marco Anthony has averaged 12.7 minutes of action.
• Kody Stattmann, Austin Katstra and Jayden Nixon provide depth and Francisco Caffaro is redshirting the 2018-19 season.
• Redshirt freshman Francesco Badocchi has taken an indefinite leave of absence from the team due to medical issues.
• Manager Grant Kersey has appeared in three home games.
All-Time vs. C-USA
• UVA meets its first current C-USA opponent since losing to Old Dominion 63-61 on Dec. 22, 2012.
• Virginia is 20-7 all-time vs. current C-USA foes (9-5 vs. Old Dominion, 6-2 vs. Marshall, 2-0 vs. Rice, 1-0 vs. Middle Tennessee, 1-1 vs. UAB and 1-1 vs. Western Kentucky).
About The 2018-19 Schedule
• Five of Virginia’s opponents are ranked in the latest AP Top-25 poll (Duke, North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Florida State and Clemson), while four (Maryland, Syracuse, Miami and Notre Dame) received votes.
• The Cavaliers will play 12 games against 2018 NCAA Tournament teams: home games against Duke, Florida State, Marshall, Miami, Syracuse and Virginia Tech; road contests at Clemson, Duke, North Carolina, NC State, Syracuse and Virginia Tech.
• UVA could meet NCAA Tournament teams Butler, Florida and Oklahoma in the Battle 4 Atlantis.
• Four opponents (Boston College, Middle Tennessee, Notre Dame and Louisville) participated in the 2018 National Invitation Tournament.
Virginia Picked Second in the ACC
• Virginia was picked to finish second in the ACC preseason poll.
• The Cavaliers, who were picked sixth and finished first last season, have finished at or higher than their predicted finish in nine of the last 10 seasons.
• Duke is the preseason favorite, followed by Virginia, North Carolina, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Clemson, Florida State, NC State, Notre Dame, Miami, Louisville, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and Pittsburgh.
On The Horizon
• No. 4 Virginia plays Butler or Dayton in the Battle 4 Atlantis in The Bahamas on Thursday, Nov. 22 at 4 or 9:30 p.m.