HOOS GAMEDAY: No. 15 Virginia vs. Saint Francis (Pa.)
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Due to health and safety considerations and current guidelines for sports venues, attendance at UVA home competitions will be limited to family of student-athletes and each team’s coaching staff until further notice. Parking lots surrounding Scott Stadium will be closed to the public; tailgating is not permitted anywhere on Grounds.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 15 Virginia hosts Saint Francis (Pa.) in its home opener on Tuesday, Dec. 1. Tipoff for the nonconference game at John Paul Jones Arena is slated for 4 p.m. on ACC Network.
For Openers
• No. 15 Virginia meets Saint Francis (Pa.) for the first time.
• The Cavaliers have won 23 straight home-opening games, including last season’s 65-34 win over JMU.
• UVA is 79-7 in nonconference action under head coach Tony Bennett at John Paul Jones Arena.
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-Saint Francis (Pa.) game will be televised on ACC Network and streamed live on WatchESPN.com and ESPN App.
• 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.
• Join the Voice of the Cavaliers Dave Koehn and special guest Justin McKoy for the “Wahoo Walkthrough” at 3 p.m. on the Virginia Sports App, VirginiaSports.com and select stations on the Virginia Sports Radio Network.
The Head Coach
• Three-time National and four-time ACC Coach of the Year Tony Bennett has a 278-97 (.741) mark in 12 seasons at Virginia and 347-130 (.727) career mark in 15 seasons.
• Bennett led the Cavaliers to their eighth straight season with 23 or more wins in 2019-20.
• 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.
Hoo Are These Cavaliers
• Sam Hauser, Kihei Clark and Jay Huff lead the Cavaliers into action in 2020-21.
• Hauser leads the team in scoring (14.5) and rebounding (7.0) and is shooting 60 percent from the field (12 of 20), 50 percent from 3-point range (3 of 6) and 100 percent from the charity strip (2 of 2).
• Clark has chipped in 8.0 points per game and leads the team with five assists.
• Huff is averaging 9.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and a team-leading 2.5 blocks per game.
• Trey Murphy III and Reece Beekman have sparked the Cavaliers off the bench.
• Murphy III went for game-high 21 points against Towson, while Beekman had a team-high 11 points in the loss vs. San Francisco.
• Casey Morsell, Tomas Woldetensae and Kody Stattmann have shared minutes on the perimeter, while Kadin Shedrick has averaged nine minutes off the bench in the frontcourt.
UVA Ranked No, 15 in Latest AP Poll
• Virginia is ranked No. 15 in the latest Associated Press poll.
• UVA was ranked No. 4 in both preseason polls, marking its third AP preseason top-5 ranking in school history (No. 1 in 1982-83 and No. 5 in 2018-19).
• The Cavaliers were ranked in the AP preseason top-10 for the eighth time in school history (No. 8 in 1980-81, No. 7 in 1981-82, No. 1 in 1982-83, No. 9 in 2014-15, No. 6 in 2015-16, No. 8 in 2016-17, No. 5 in 2018-19 and No. 4 in 2020-21.)
• UVA has been ranked in the top 25 in the preseason rankings in nine of the past 10 seasons.
Last Time Out
• Justin McKoy tallied career highs in points (11) and rebounds (6), but then-No. 4 Virginia dropped a 61-60 decision to San Francisco at Bubbleville at Mohegan Sun Arena on Nov. 27.
• Rookie Reece Beekman added a season-high 11 points and Sam Hauser chipped in 10 in the loss.
• UVA sank 15 3-pointers its season-opening win vs. Towson, but went 3 of 12 from distance in the 61-60 loss to San Francisco.
• UVA allowed 13 3-pointers, but outrebounded the Dons 36-32.
• Jamaree Bouyea tallied a game-high 19 points and six assists and Khalil Shabazz added 14 points and five rebounds.
UVA All-Time vs. the Northeast Conference
* Virginia is 9-0 all-time vs. current Northeast Conference opponents (3-0 vs. LIU Brooklyn, 3-0 vs. Wagner, 1-0 vs. Farleigh Dickinson, 1-0 vs. Mount St. Mary’s and 1-0 vs. St. Francis Brooklyn).
• The Cavaliers meet their first Northeast Conference foe since defeating St. Francis Brooklyn 72-32 at John Paul Jones Arena on Nov. 15, 2016.
• Tony Bennett is 2-0 all-time vs. current Northeast Conference opponents as a head coach (1-0 vs. St. Francis Brooklyn at UVA and Fairleigh Dickinson at Washington State).
On The Horizon
• No. 15 Virginia hosts Kent State in nonconference action on Friday, Dec. 4. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 6 p.m. on ACC Network.