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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 5 Virginia (7-1, 1-0) returns to ACC action against No. 7 North Carolina (6-2, 1-0) on Sunday (Dec. 8). Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 4 p.m. on ACC Network.
 
For Openers
• Virginia meets its first ranked opponent of 2018-19.
• UVA and North Carolina meet for the 11th time as top-10 ranked foes with the Tar Heels owning a 6-4 advantage.
• The Cavaliers have not lost back-to-back games since dropping a home game vs. Duke (65-55) and road game at North Carolina (65-41) in the 2016-17 season.
• UVA’s four-game winning streak vs. North Carolina is its longest since a four-game winning streak from 2001-03.
 
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-North Carolina contest will be televised on ACC Network and streamed live on WatchESPN.com and ESPN app.
• The game will also be broadcast the Virginia Sports Radio Network, and online at 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 261-90 (.744) mark in 11 seasons at Virginia and 330-123 (.728) 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.
• Bennett was named the USBWA Henry Iba National Coach of the Year for the third time in 2018 to rank second all-time behind legendary John Wooden, who captured the award six times.
 
All-Time vs. North Carolina
• UVA is 57-131 all-time vs. UNC in the series that began in 1910-11.
• UVA is 35-44 all-time against the Tar Heels in Charlottesville, including a 5-4 mark at John Paul Jones Arena.
• The Cavaliers have won six of the last seven regular-season meetings between the teams.
• UVA is 4-1 against UNC in its last five games and 7-3 in its last 10.
• Tony Bennett is 9-8 all-time vs. North Carolina, including a loss as head coach of Washington State in the 2008 NCAA Sweet 16.

There’s No Place Like Home
• Virginia is 185-42 (.815), including a 4-0 mark in 2019-20, in 14 seasons at John Paul Jones Arena.
• UVA was 15-1 at JPJ last season and is 147-26 (.850), including a 112-11 (.911) 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 in the National Rankings
• As of Dec. 6, Virginia ranks first in the nation in scoring defense (43.9), field goal percentage defense (30.9) and personal fouls per game (11.1), and fifth in fewest fouls (89).
 
UVA Ranked No. 5 in Latest AP Poll
• UVA is ranked No. 5 in the latest Associated Press poll and No. 2 in the USA Today Coaches’ poll.
• UVA has been ranked in the AP poll for 39 straight weeks and had been ranked in the top 10 in 35 of the last 36 polls.
 
Holding Foes Under 50
• UVA is 6-0 when limiting opponents to fewer than 50 points.
• UVA is 93-2 when achieving the mark in the Tony Bennett era.
• Bennett-coached teams are 118-3 when holding opponents to fewer than 50 points (25-1 in three years at Washington State).
• UVA is 3-0 when limiting opponents to fewer than 40 points (26-0 all-time under Bennett).
• UVA has three wins when scoring fewer than 50 points for the first time since 1981-82 (Maryland and NC State twice).
 
Last Time Out
• Sasha Stefanovic scored a game-high 20 points to lead Purdue to a 69-40 win over No. 5 Virginia on Wednesday, Dec. 4.
• Jahaad Proctor added 16 points and Matt Haarms added 11 as the Boilermakers handed Virginia its worst loss since a 35-point defeat (87-52) at Tennessee on Dec. 30, 2013.
• Purdue shot 13 of 25 from 3-point range and limited the Cavaliers to just 4 of 24 beyond the arc.
• UVA’s 40 points were its fourth fewest scored in the shot clock era (since 1985-86).
• Jay Huff led UVA with 11 points and Mamadi Diakite added 10.
 
Last Time vs. North Carolina
• De’Andre Hunter and Kyle Guy each scored 20 points to lead then-No. 4 Virginia to a 69-61 win at then-No. 8 North Carolina on Feb. 11, 2019.
• Ty Jerome added his second career double-double with 15 points and 11 assists as UVA improved to 7-1 in true road games.
• UVA held a 36-29 lead at halftime, but North Carolina used a 17-3 lead to gain a 49-43 lead before the Cavaliers closed the game on a 12-2 run.
• Coby White led North Carolina with 17 points and Cameron Johnson added 16.
• UVA shot 53.3 percent from the field, including 55 percent from beyond the arc (10 of 18).
• The Cavaliers held the Tar Heels to 35.4 percent shooting.
 
Hoo Are These Cavaliers?
• The quartet of Mamadi Diakite, Kihei Clark, Braxton Key and Jay Huff lead Virginia into action this season.
• Diakite leads UVA in scoring (13.4 ppg) and is second in rebounding (7.0), while Clark is averaging 8.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and a team-high 4.9 assists.
• Key is averaging 10.3 points and a team-high 8.3 rebounds, but has missed the last two games with a wrist injury.
• Huff has tallied 10.4 points, 7.0 rebounds and team-high 12 blocks.
• 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.
• Morsell, who scored a career-high 19 points against Arizona State en route to all-tournament honors, is averaging 5.3 points.
• Stattmann is averaging 4.5 points, but missed four games (Nov. 19-27) due to an illness.
• Woldetensae has started seven games and had six rebounds in wins over Columbia and Vermont.
• Justin McKoy chipped in six points on 3 of 3 shooting off the bench at Purdue, while walk-on Chase Coleman has averaged 6.7 minutes backing up point guard Kihei Clark.
• Francisco Caffaro has appeared in four contests and Jayden Nixon provides additional perimeter 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. 5 Virginia hosts Stony Brook in nonconference action on Wednesday, Dec. 18. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 6:30 p.m. on ACC Network.