HOOS GAMEDAY: No. 15 Virginia vs. Kent State
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 15 Virginia (2-1) hosts Kent State (1-0) in nonconference action on Friday, Dec. 4. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is slated for 6 p.m. on ACC Network.
For Openers
• No. 15 Virginia meets Kent State for the second time.
• UVA is 80-7 in nonconference action under head coach Tony Bennett at John Paul Jones Arena.
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-Kent State 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 Reece Beekman for the “Wahoo Walkthrough” at 5 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 279-97 (.742) mark in 12 seasons at Virginia and 348-130 (.728) 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.
• UVA is 136-58 (.701) in ACC play (77-20 at home & 59-38 away), 157-29 (.844) at home and 143-39 (.786) in non-conference action (80-7 at JPJ) under Bennett.
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 (13.3) and rebounding (6.7) and is shooting 63 percent from the field (17 of 27), 44.4 percent from 3-point range (4 of 9) and 100 percent from the charity strip (2 of 2).
• Clark has chipped in 5.3 points per game and leads the team with eight assists.
• Huff is averaging 10.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and a team-leading 2.6 blocks per game.
• Trey Murphy III and Reece Beekman have sparked the Cavaliers off the bench.
• Murphy III has reached double figures in scoring in two games and is second on the team in scoring at 11.7 points per game, while Beekman has six assists and team-high five steals.
• Casey Morsell (5.3 ppg), Tomas Woldetensae (50% 3FG) and Kody Stattmann (4.7 ppg, 2.3 rpg) have shared minutes on the perimeter, while Kadin Shedrick has averaged 12 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
• Jay Huff led four Cavaliers in double figures with 13 points as No. 15 Virginia raced to a 76-51 win over Saint Francis (Pa.) on Tuesday, Dec. 1.
• Kadin Shedrick added 12 points and eight rebounds in his third career game, and Sam Hauser and Trey Murphy III added 11 and 10 points, respectively.
• UVA shot 66.7 percent en route to a 45-13 advantage, its largest halftime lead since a 49-9 lead over Grambling State in 2016.
• The Cavaliers owned a 38-25 rebound advantage and committed just nine turnovers to claim their 24th consecutive home-opening win.
UVA All-Time vs. the Mid-American Conference
• Virginia is 2-3 all-time vs. current Mid-American Conference opponents (1-0 vs. Kent State, 1-2 vs. Ohio and 0-1 vs. Bowling Green).
• The Cavaliers meet their first MAC foe since dropping a 78-72 decision at Ohio on Feb. 26, 2003.
• Tony Bennett meets his first MAC opponent as a head coach.
On The Horizon
• No. 15 Virginia hosts No. 8 Michigan State in an ACC/B1G Challenge contest on Wednesday, Dec. 9. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 9:15 p.m. on ESPN.
TEAM INFORMATION
