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COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 1 seed Virginia (29-3) plays No. 16 seed Gardner-Webb (23-11) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, March 22. Tipoff at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, S.C., is set for approximately 3 p.m. ET.
For Openers
• Virginia earned its fourth No. 1 seed in the past six seasons and seventh in school history.
• UVA earned at at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament, while Gardner-Webb earned the Big South Conference’s automatic bid.
• UVA has won 29 or more games for the fifth time under four-time ACC Coach of the Year Tony Bennett and eighth time in school history.
• The Cavaliers posted a 69-52 road win over South Carolina at Colonial Life Arena on Dec. 19, 2018.
• Virginia is 14-2 away from John Paul Jones Arena, including a 4-1 record on neutral courts.
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-Gardner-Webb contest will be televised on truTV 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 (136) and XM (202).
The Head Coach
• Three-time National and four-time ACC Coach of the Year Tony Bennett has a 248-89 (.736) mark in 10 seasons at Virginia and 317-122 (.722) career mark in 13 seasons.
• Bennett became the 80th active Division I head coach to win his 300th career game against Marshall on Dec. 31, 2018.
• 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 All-Time in the NCAA Tournament
• UVA is 29-22 all-time in 22 NCAA Tournament appearances.
• The Cavaliers will make their school-record sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
• UVA is 12-6 as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
• Last season, No. 1 overall seed Virginia was upset by UMBC in the first round in the South region.
• UVA reached the NCAA Final Four in 1981 and 1984.
• Virginia head coach Tony Bennett is 10-8 in eight NCAA tournaments, including a 7-6 record at UVA.
All-Time vs. Gardner-Webb
• Virginia is 1-0 all-time vs. Gardner-Webb, posting a 72-65 win over the Bulldogs at University Hall on Dec. 19, 2002.
• Derrick Byars had 20 points and Nick Vander Laan added 17 points and eight rebounds for Virginia.
• The Cavaliers shot 39.7 percent and forced 17 turnovers in the win.
• Tim Behrendorff led four Bulldogs in double figures with 18 points.
UVA in the National Statistical Rankings
• UVA ranks first nationally in scoring defense (55.1 ppg), 3-point field goal percentage defense (27.2%) and fewest turnovers (289), second in turnovers per game (9), third in scoring margin (16.8), fourth in 3-point field goal percentage (40.9%), field goal percentage defense (38%), winning percentage (90.6%) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.61), ninth in fewest fouls (469), 10th in personal fouls per game (14.7) and 29th in field goal percentage (47.8).
Last Time Out
• No. 4 seed Florida State defeated No. 1 seed Virginia 69-59 in the ACC Tournament semifinals on March 15 at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C.
• De’Andre Hunter led the Cavaliers with 13 points, while Kyle Guy and Ty Jerome also scored in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
• Florida State shot 54.5 percent in the win and David Nichols led four players in double figures with 14 points.
• UVA shot 42.9 percent, but just 5 of 24 from 3-point range.
• The Seminoles out-rebounded the Cavaliers 35-20 and owned a 28-8 advantage in bench scoring.
UVA Ranked No. 2 in AP Poll
• UVA is ranked No. 2 in the AP poll for the fourth consecutive week.
• UVA has been ranked in the AP top six in 29 consecutive polls.
• Virginia has been ranked in the AP for 35 straight polls and has been ranked in the top 10 in each of the past 31 polls.
• 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.
Cavaliers Against the Field of 68
• Virginia competed against nine teams which qualified for the NCAA Tournament, posting a 10-3 record in 16 games.
• UVA went 2-0 vs. Louisville, 2-0 vs. Virginia Tech, 1-0 vs. Maryland, 1-0 vs. North Carolina, 1-0 vs. Syracuse, 1-0 vs. VCU and 1-0 vs. Wisconsin, 1-1 vs. Florida State and 0-2 vs. Duke.
On the Horizon
• The winner of No. 1 seed Virginia-No. 16 seed Gardner-Webb will face the winner of No. 8 seed Ole Miss and No. 9 seed Oklahoma in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, March 24. Tipoff at Colonial Life Arena is TBD.