Columbia Next for No. 9 Virginia

HOW TO WATCH ACC NETWORK | Virginia Master Plan | WATCH ONLINE | LISTEN LIVE | LIVE STATS | BUY TICKETS | GAME NOTES

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 9 Virginia (2-0) hosts Columbia in nonconference action on Saturday, Nov. 16. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is scheduled for Noon on ACC Network.
 
For Openers
• UVA meets Columbia for the first time since posting an 83-58 win over the Lions during the 1987-88 season.
• The Cavaliers have limited their first two opponents to fewer than 40 points for the first time in the shot clock era and since 1943-44.
• UVA has an 18-game nonconference home winning streak.
• UVA’s home game against North Carolina has been moved to Sunday, Dec. 8 at 4 p.m. on the ACC Network.
 
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-Columbia game will be televised on ACC Network and streamed live on WatchESPN.com and ESPN app to viewers who subscribe to a cable system that carries the ACC Network.
• The game will also be 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 four-time ACC Coach of the Year Tony Bennett has a 256-89 (.742) mark in 11 seasons at Virginia and 325-122 (.727) career mark in 14 seasons.
• In 2018-19, Bennett led the Cavaliers to their first NCAA national championship, a share of their ninth ACC regular-season title and school-record 35 wins.
• Bennett became the 80th active Division I head coach to win his 300th career game against Marshall on Dec. 31, 2018.
 
UVA in the National Rankings
• As of Nov. 14, Virginia ranks first in the nation in personal fouls per game (8.5), winning percentage (100.0), second in scoring defense (34.0) and field goal percentage defense (23.1), sixth in fewest fouls (17), eighth in rebounds per game (48.5), defensive rebounds per game (36), 13th in rebound margin (16.5) and 15th in 3-point field goal percentage defense (21.7).
 
There’s No Place Like Home
• Virginia is 182-42 (.813), including a 1-0 mark in 2019-20, in 14 seasons at John Paul Jones Arena.
• UVA was 15-1 at JPJ last season and is 144-26 (.847), including a 109-11 (.908) mark the past eight seasons, at home under head coach Tony Bennett.
• Virginia is an ACC-leading 57-6 (.905) in league home games over the past seven seasons. Duke is second at 55-8 (.873).
• UVA has won 11 or more home games for 10 straight seasons.
• UVA has an 18-game nonconference home winning streak.
 
UVA Ranked No. 9 in Latest AP Poll
• Virginia is ranked No. 9 in the latest Associated Press poll.
• The Cavaliers are No. 9 in the USA Today Coaches’ preseason poll.
• UVA has been ranked in the top 25 in the preseason rankings in seven of the past eight seasons.
• Dating back to 2017-18, UVA has been ranked in the AP poll for 37 straight weeks and had been ranked in the top 10 in 32 of the last 33 polls.
 
All-Time vs. Columbia
• UVA is 2-0 all-time against Columbia in the series that dates back to the 1966-67 season.
• The Cavaliers are 1-0 against the Lions in Charlottesville, including a 25-point win at University Hall to open the 1987-88 season.
 
Last Time vs. the Lions
• John Johnson tallied 19 points and Richard Morgan added 17 to lead Virginia to an 82-58 win over Columbia on Nov. 27, 1987.
• John Crotty added 14 points and five assists and Brent Bair had a game-high nine rebounds for the Cavaliers.
• UVA shot 41.2 percent and limited the Lions to 38.2 percent.
• Matt Shannon led the Lions with 14 points and seven rebounds.
 
Last Time Out
• Mamadi Diakite set career highs in points (19) and rebounds (13) for his first career double-double as Virginia cruised past in-state foe JMU 65-34 on Nov. 10.
• Braxton Key added 14 points and 10 rebounds for his first career double-double as UVA posted its 23rd straight home-opening win.
• UVA held its second straight opponent to 34 points and yielded JMU to 22.6 percent shooting (12-53) from the field.
• Jay Huff added 11 points and seven rebounds and Kihei Clark handed out six assists.
• UVA outrebounded JMU 50-36, recording 50 rebounds for the first time since the 2015 season.
 
Hoo Are These Cavaliers?
• Mamadi Diakite, Kihei Clark, Braxton Key and Jay Huff lead Virginia into action this season.
• Diakite leads UVA in scoring (15.5 ppg) and blocked shots (2.0 bpg) and tied for second in rebounding (9.5 rpg), while Clark is averaging 7.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and a team-high 6.5 assists.
• Key is averaging 10.5 points and a team-high 10.0 rebounds, and Huff has tallied 11 points and 9.5 rebounds per game off the bench.
• Kody Stattmann and newcomers Casey Morsell and Tomas Woldetensae have absorbed the minutes left by Ty Jerome, Kyle Guy and De’Andre Hunter  on the perimeter.
• Stattmann is averaging 6.5 points, while Morsell has averaged 26 minutes in a pair of starts.
• Woldetensae saw 13 minutes of action at Syracuse, but missed the JMU game with a foot injury.
• Freshman Justin McKoy has provided frontcourt depth, while
freshman walk-on Chase Coleman backs up point guard Kihei Clark.
• Redshirt freshman Francisco Caffaro is out with a leg injury.
• Walk-ons Austin Katstra and Jayden Nixon provide additional depth.
• Forward Kadin Shedrick is expected to redshirt this season, while Sam Hauser will sit out the season after transferring from Marquette.
 
On The Horizon
• No. 9 Virginia hosts Vermont in non-conference action on Tuesday, Nov. 19. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 7 p.m. on Regional Sports Networks.