CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 23 Virginia (4-2) opens Atlantic Coast Conference action at Notre Dame on Wednesday, Dec. 30. Tipoff at Purcell Pavilion is set for 6 p.m. on ACC Network and Virginia Sports Radio Network.
For Openers
• No. 23 Virginia (4-2) opens its 68th season of Atlantic Coast Conference action at Notre Dame.
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-Notre Dame 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 Sam Hauser 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 281-98 (.741) mark in 12 seasons at Virginia and 350-131 (.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) under Bennett.
ACC Openers
• The Cavaliers have a 12-game winning streak in ACC openers and are 11-0 in ACC openers under head coach Tony Bennett.
• Virginia is 32-35 all-time in ACC openers.
• The Cavaliers posted a 48-34 win against Syracuse in last year’s ACC season opener at Carrier Dome.
• Syracuse’s 34 points were an all-time low for the Orange in a game at the Carrier Dome and the lowest since a 49-28 loss to Sampson Navy on Jan. 13, 1945 (Sampson Navy was a team from a military base during the war years).
All-Time vs. Notre Dame
• Virginia is 14-2 all-time vs. Notre Dame, including a 9-0 ACC regular-season record, in the series that dates back to 1980-81.
• UVA is 5-0 against the Irish in Notre Dame, including an 82-55 win in its last visit to Purcell Pavilion in 2018-19.
• UVA has limited Notre Dame to 58 or fewer points in eight of the last 10 meetings, including its 50-49 overtime win last season at John Paul Jones Arena.
• Head coach Tony Bennett is 10-1 all-time against Notre Dame, including a 61-41 win over the Fighting Irish as head coach at Washington State in the 2008 NCAA Tournament in Denver, Colo.
Last Time vs. the Fighting Irish
• Mamadi Diakite scored a game-high 20 points to lead Virginia to a 50-49 overtime win against Notre Dame on Feb. 11, 2020.
• Diakite buried a game-tying jump shot with 25.3 seconds to tie the game at 47-47, and UVA outscored Notre Dame 3-2 in overtime to gain its fourth win when scoring 50 or fewer points.
• Jay Huff chipped in eight points and nine rebounds, and Kihei Clark scored nine points.
• Braxton Key snared a career-high 13 rebounds.
• Prentiss Hubb led three Fighting Irish in double figures with 12 points.
• UVA shot 37.3 percent from the field, outrebounded the Irish 42-34 and scored 24 of its 50 points in the paint.
Hoo Are These Cavaliers?
• Sam Hauser leads the team in scoring (12.8), second in rebounding (5.8) and is shooting 50.8 percent from the field and 37 percent from 3-point range (10 of 27).
• Kihei Clark has chipped in 9.2 points per game and a team-leading 3.2 assists.
• Jay Huff is averaging 11.2 points, and team highs in rebounds (6.2) and blocks (2.7)
• Trey Murphy III has reached double figures in scoring in four games and is second on the team in scoring at 12.2 points per game.
• Reece Beekman has 14 assists and team-high eight steals.
• Justin McKoy has started four games and is averaging 4.7 points and 3.0 rebounds.
• Casey Morsell (5.7 ppg), Tomas Woldetensae (40% 3FG) and Kody Stattmann (4.7 ppg, 2.3 rpg) have shared minutes on the perimeter, while Kadin Shedrick (4.0 ppg & 3.7 rpg) has averaged 11.3 minutes off the bench in the frontcourt.
UVA Ranked No, 23 in Latest AP Poll
• Virginia is ranked No. 23 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).
• 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 eight straight weeks over the past two seasons.
Last Time Out
• Corey Kispert scored 32 points and Drew Timme added 29 as top-ranked Gonzaga handled No. 16 Virginia 98-75 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.
• Kispert drilled 9 of 13 3-pointers as the Zags shot 60.3 percent from the field and forced 15 UVA turnovers to improve to 7-0.
• Kihei Clark led the Cavaliers with a season-high 19 points, while Trey Murphy III added 15 (4 of 6 3-pointers) and Sam Hauser had 10.
• Gonzaga started the game on a 7-0 run and never trailed.
• The 98 points were the second-most the Cavaliers have allowed the Tony Bennett era.
On The Horizon
• No. 23 Virginia hosts in-state rival No. 24 Virginia Tech on Saturday, Jan 2. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 4 p.m. on ACC Network and the Virginia Sports Radio Network.