No. 15 Virginia Hosts NC State Wednesday
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 15 Virginia (15-5, 11-3 ACC) hosts NC State (10-9, 6-8 ACC) in ACC action on Wednesday, Feb. 24. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 6:30 p.m. on ACC Network and Virginia Sports Radio Network.
For Openers
• UVA is second in the ACC at 11-3, while NC State is tied for 10th at 6-8.
• UVA aims for a two-game season sweep of NC State, defeating the Wolfpack 64-57 on Feb. 3.
• As of Feb. 22, Virginia ranks second nationally in personal fouls per game (12.8), third in turnovers per game (9.7), fifth in 3-point field goal percentage (40%), seventh in scoring defense (60.2), 11th in free throw percentage (78.9%), 14th in assist/turnover ratio (1.46) and 20th in field goal percentage (49%).
• UVA is 9-0 at John Paul Jones Arena, including a 6-0 mark in ACC action.
• Tomas Woldetensae will miss his second straight game due to contact tracing.
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-NC State game will be televised on ACC Network and streamed online at WatchESPN.com and ESPN App.
• The game will also be broadcast on 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 Austin Katstra for the “Wahoo Walkthrough” at 7 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 292-101 (.743) mark in 12 seasons at Virginia and 361-134 (.729) career mark in 15 seasons.
• With the Feb. 13 win over North Carolina, Bennett became just the third coach in ACC men’s basketball history to lead his program to 10-straight winning conference seasons, joining Dean Smith and Mike Krzyzewski.
• 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.
• 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.
• UVA is 147-61 (.707) in ACC play (83-20 at home & 64-41 away), 163-29 (.849) at home and 145-40 (.784) in non-conference action (82-7 at JPJ) under Bennett.
• Bennett ranks third all-time in winning percentage (.707) among ACC head coaches with 100 or more ACC regular-season wins.
All-Time vs. NC State
• Virginia is 68-83 all-time vs. NC State in the series that dates back to 1912-13.
• UVA is 13-1 in their last 14 regular-season games against NC State and 14-3 in their last 17 games including a pair of losses in the ACC Tournament.
• UVA defeated NC State 64-57 earlier this season.
• The Wolfpack snapped the Cavaliers’ 12-game regular-season winning streak (eight-game winning streak overall) with their 53-51 win last season at John Paul Jones Arena.
• UVA has limited the Wolfpack to 57 or fewer points in nine of the last 10 games in the series.
• Tony Bennett is 14-3 vs. NC State as head coach at Virginia.
Last Time vs. the Wolfpack
• Sam Hauser and Trey Murphy III each tallied 18 points to lead then-No. 14 Virginia past NC State, 64-57, on Feb. 3 in Raleigh.
• Jay Huff added 12 points and team-high six rebounds for Virginia, which improved to 13-7 all-time at PNC Arena.
• Kihei Clark added a game-high six assists and Reece Beekman chipped in eight points, five rebounds and two blocked shots.
• UVA sank 20 of 22 free throws in the victory.
• Jericole Hellems had a game-high 23 points for NC State.
Hoo Are These Cavaliers?
• Kihei Clark, Sam Hauser and Jay Huff lead the Cavaliers into action against NC State.
• Clark, who has handed out six or more assists in six contests, has averaged 10.2 points and team-high 4.5 assists.
• Hauser leads the team in scoring (15.1 ppg) and rebounding (7.0 rpg), and is shooting 51.4 percent from the field, 44.4 percent from 3-point range and 85.3 percent from the foul line.
• Huff leads the team in blocked shots (2.4 bpg) and is second in scoring (13.3 ppg) and rebounding (6.8 rpg).
• Trey Murphy III (11.3 ppg) leads UVA in free throw shooting (90.3%) and 3-point shooting (48.3%), and is second with 42 3-pointers.
• Reece Beekman has a team-high 26 steals.
• Tomas Woldetensae (44.4 3FG%) provides bench scoring, while Casey Morsell (5.1 ppg) is UVA’s top perimeter defender.
• Justin McKoy (3.3 ppg and 2.7 rpg) and Kadin Shedrick (2.5 ppg & 2.2 rpg) have added depth.
UVA Ranked No. 15 in Latest AP Poll
• Virginia is ranked No. 15 in the latest Associated Press poll.
• UVA has been ranked in the top 25 of the AP poll for 16 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
• Matthew Hurt had a game-high 22 points to lead Duke (10-8, 8-6 ACC) to a 66-65 win over then-No. 7 Virginia at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday, Feb. 20.
• Jay Huff had 20 points and 12 rebounds for his eighth career double-double and Sam Hauser added 19 points and eight rebounds for the Cavaliers (15-5, 11-3 ACC).
• Hurt drilled 5 of 8 3-pointers and Jeremy Roach (12 points) and Jaemyn Brakefield (11 points) also reached double figures.
• Kihei Clark added 15 points for Virginia and Casey Morsell chipped in seven points off the bench.
• UVA shot 50 percent and outrebounded Duke 32-22.
On The Horizon
• No. 15 Virginia hosts Miami on Monday, March 1. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 6 p.m. on ACC Network and Virginia Sports Radio Network.