No. 18 Virginia Hosts No. 4 Michigan State in ACC/B1G Challenge
For Openers
• No. 18 Virginia (3-1) meets its first ranked foe of the season.
• The Cavaliers seek their first win against the Spartans.
• UVA is hosting its highest ranked nonconference foe in history.
• The ACC/B1G Challenge contest features a matchup of the Hauser brothers, Sam (Virginia) and Joey (Michigan State).
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-Michigan State game will be televised on ESPN 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 Sam Hauser for the “Wahoo Walkthrough” at 8:15 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 280-97 (.743) mark in 12 seasons at Virginia and 349-130 (.729) 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 144-39 (.787) in non-conference action (81-7 at JPJ) under Bennett.
UVA All-Time in the ACC/B1G Challenge
• UVA has a 13-7 record in the Challenge.
• UVA’s five-game winning streak in the Challenge ended at Purdue last season.
• The Cavaliers have won eight of their last 10 Challenge games and Virginia is 7-2 all-time at home in the event.
Hoo Are These Cavaliers?
• Sam Hauser leads the team in scoring (14.5) and rebounding (6.8) and is shooting 58.5 percent from the field and 43.8 percent from 3-point range (7 of 16).
• Kihei Clark, who has come off the bench the past two games, has chipped in 7.5 points per game and leads the team with 11 assists.
• Jay Huff is averaging 12.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and a team-leading 2.5 blocks per game.
• Trey Murphy III has reached double figures in scoring in two games and is third on the team in scoring at 10.8 points per game.
• Reece Beekman has six assists and team-high seven steals.
• Justin McKoy has started four games and is averaging 5.0 points and 3.8 rebounds.
• Casey Morsell (5.0 ppg), Tomas Woldetensae (41.7% 3FG) and Kody Stattmann (4.7 ppg, 2.3 rpg) have shared minutes on the perimeter, while Kadin Shedrick (3.5 ppg & 2.8 rpg) has averaged 10.5 minutes off the bench in the frontcourt.
UVA Ranked No, 18 in Latest Polls
• Virginia is ranked No. 18 in the latest Associated Press and USA Today Coaches’ 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).
• UVA has been ranked in the top 25 in the preseason rankings in nine of the past 10 seasons.
• UVA has been ranked in the top 25 of the AP poll for six straight week over the past two seasons.
Last Time Out
• Jay Huff tallied a career-high 18 points and added 11 rebounds for his fifth career double-double in Virginia’s 71-64 overtime win against Kent State on Dec. 4.
• Sam Hauser added 18 points, including a huge 3-pointer in overtime, and Kihei Clark scored 14.
• Kent State’s Danny Pippen sent the game to overtime with a 3-pointer at the end of regulation.
• Virginia shot 48 percent for the game and had the edge in rebounds, 32-30.
• Kent State, which scored 17 points off 12 UVA turnovers, was led by Michael Nuga’s game-high 20 points.
UVA All-Time vs. Michigan State
• The Cavaliers are 0-5 all-time vs. Michigan State in the series that dates back to the 1946-47 season.
• Michigan State knocked the Cavaliers out of the NCAA Tournament in each of the last two meetings between the teams (2014 NCAA Sweet Sixteen 61-59 and 2015 NCAA second round 60-54).
• Virginia and Michigan State meet for the third time in the Challenge.
• The Cavaliers are 0-1 against the Spartans in the Challenge.
• Michigan State topped Virginia 82-75 in East Lansing, Mich., in the 2002 Challenge, while the Spartans-Cavaliers 2001 Challenge game was halted due to wet floor conditions at Richmond Coliseum.