HOOS GAMEDAY: No. 9 Virginia vs. North Carolina

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 9 Virginia (14-3, 10-1 ACC) hosts North Carolina (12-6, 7-4 ACC) in ACC action on Saturday, Feb. 13. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 6 p.m. on ESPN, ESPN Radio and Virginia Sports Radio Network.

For Openers
• No. 9 Virginia (14-3, 10-1 ACC) hosts North Carolina (12-6, 7-4 ACC) in ACC action on Saturday, Feb. 13.
• UVA is first in the ACC at 10-1, while UNC is fifth at 7-4.
• As of Feb. 11, Virginia ranks second nationally in free throw percentage (81.7) and personal fouls per game (12.6), third in turnovers per game (9.5), sixth in scoring defense (59.4), eighth in 3-point field goal percentage (39.5), 11th in assist/turnover ratio (1.5), and 18th in field goal percentage (49.5).
• UVA is 8-0 at home (5-0 in league play).
• Sam Hauser is the reigning ACC Player of the Week after averaging 20.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in a pair of UVA victories.

Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-North Carolina game will be televised on ESPN and streamed online at WatchESPN.com and ESPN App.
• The game will also be broadcast on ESPN Radio, 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
• Dean and Markel Families Head Men’s Basketball Coach Tony Bennett has a 291-99 (.746) mark in 12 seasons at Virginia and 360-132 (.732) career mark in 15 seasons.
• The three-time National and four-time ACC Coach of the Year 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 146-59 (.712) in ACC play (82-20 at home & 64-39 away), 162-29 (.848) at home and 145-40 (.784) in non-conference action (82-7 at JPJ) under Bennett.
• Bennett ranks third all-time in winning percentage (.712) among ACC head coaches with 100 or more ACC regular-season wins.

All-Time vs. North Carolina
• UVA is 59-131 all-time vs. UNC in the series that began in 1910-11.
• UVA is 36-44 all-time against the Tar Heels in Charlottesville, including a 6-4 mark at John Paul Jones Arena.
• UVA’s six-game winning streak in the series is its longest in the series since winning the first eight games between the teams from 1911-16.
• The Cavaliers have won eight of the last nine regular-season meetings between the teams, including a two-game sweep last season (56-47 at JPJ and 64-62 at Smith Center).
• UVA is 7-3 in its last 10 games against UNC.
• Tony Bennett is 11-8 all-time vs. North Carolina, including a loss as head coach of Washington State in the 2008 NCAA Sweet 16.

Last Time vs. the Tar Heels
• Tomas Woldetensae buried a 3-pointer with 0.8 seconds remaining to lift Virginia to a 64-62 win at North Carolina on Feb. 15, 2020.
• Woldetensae drilled six 3-pointers to finish with a team-high 18 points.
• Mamadi Diakite added 15 points and Kihei Clark and Casey Morsell chipped in 10 points each as UVA won back-to-back road contests at North Carolina for the first time.
• UVA outscored UNC 17-0 in bench points, led by Morsell (10), Francisco Caffaro (4) and Kody Stattmann (3).
• Cole Anthony led the Tar Heels with a game-high 20 points and Armando Bacot had a game-high 16 rebounds.
• UVA shot 44.4 percent, including 42.9 percent from 3-point range (9 of 21).

Hoo Are These Cavaliers?
• Kihei Clark, Sam Hauser and Jay Huff lead the Cavaliers into action vs. North Carolina.
• Clark, who has handed out six or more assists in six contests, has averaged 10 points and team-high 4.6 assists.
• Hauser leads the team in scoring (14.9 ppg) and rebounding (7.2 rpg), and is shooting 52.2 percent from the field, 42.4 percent from 3-point range and 84 percent from the foul line.
• Huff leads the team in blocked shots (2.4 bpg) and is second in scoring (13.2 ppg) and rebounding (6.4 rpg).
• Trey Murphy III (11.5 ppg) leads UVA in free throw shooting (89.7%) and 3-point shooting (48.1%), and is second with 37 3-pointers.
• Reece Beekman has a team-high 24 steals, 45 assists and 50 rebounds.
• Tomas Woldetensae (43.2 3FG%) provides bench scoring, while Casey Morsell (5.3 ppg) is UVA’s top perimeter defender.
• Justin McKoy (3.4 ppg and 2.8 rpg) and Kadin Shedrick (3.1 ppg & 2.6 rpg) have added depth, while Kody Stattmann (4.7 ppg, 2.3 rpg) remains sidelined with a non-COVID-19 related cardiac issue.

UVA Ranked No. 9 in Latest AP Poll
• Virginia is ranked No. 9 in the latest Associated Press poll.
• UVA has been ranked in the top 25 of the AP poll for 14 straight weeks over the past two seasons.
• 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.

Last Time Out
• Kihei Clark scored all 14 of his points in the second half to guide No. 9 Virginia to a 57-49 win at Georgia Tech on Feb. 10.
• Trey Murphy III led Virginia with 18 points and Jay Huff contributed six points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots.
• Sam Hauser added eight points, 10 rebounds and season-high five assists for the Cavaliers (14-3, 10-1 ACC).
• Virginia trailed 26-20 at halftime, but started the second stanza with a 9-0 run.
• Clark drilled 5 of 9 second-half field goals, including 4 of 6 3-pointers, as the Hoos outscored the Yellow Jackets 37-23.

On The Horizon
• No. 9 Virginia travels to No. 17 Florida State on Monday, Feb. 15. Tipoff at Donald L. Tucker Center is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN, ESPN Radio and Virginia Sports Radio Network.