CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 21 Virginia (16-6, 12-4 ACC) concludes its regular season at Louisville (13-5, 8-4 ACC) on Saturday, March 6. Tipoff at KFC Yum! Arena is set for 4 p.m. on ESPN2, ESPN Radio and Virginia Sports Radio Network.
For Openers
• Virginia has earned a top-2 seed at the 2021 ACC Tournament and can clinch the No. 1 seed with a win over Louisville and Florida State loss at Notre Dame.
• As of March 4, Virginia ranks third nationally in personal fouls per game (12.9), turnovers per game (9.5) and free throw percentage (80.4%), fifth in scoring defense (60.2), eighth in 3-point field goal percentage (39.2%), 14th in assist/turnover ratio (1.47) and 30th in field goal percentage (48%).
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-Louisville game will be televised on ESPN2 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 are located on VirginiaSports.com and the Virginia Sports app.
• Join the Voice of the Cavaliers Dave Koehn and special guest associate head coach Jason Williford for the “Wahoo Walkthrough” at 3 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 293-102 (.742) mark in 12 seasons at Virginia and 362-135 (.728) 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 148-62 (.705) in ACC play (84-21 at home & 64-41 away), 164-29 (.850) at home and 145-40 (.784) in non-conference action (82-7 at JPJ) under Bennett.
• Bennett ranks third all-time in winning percentage (.705) among ACC head coaches with 100 or more ACC regular-season wins.
All-Time vs. Louisville
• Virginia is 16-5 all-time vs. Louisville in a series that began in 1923-24.
• The Cavaliers and Cardinals split a two-game series last season dropping an 80-73 decision at KFC Yum! Center and claiming a 57-54 win at John Paul Jones Arena.
• UVA is 10-2 vs. the Cardinals in ACC action.
• The Cavaliers are 4-2 vs. the Cardinals in Louisville.
• UVA has held Louisville to 59 or fewer points in nine of 13 contests since the Cardinals joined the ACC in 2014-15.
Tony Bennett is 11-2 vs. Louisville as head coach at Virginia.
Last Time vs. the Cardinals
• Mamadi Diakite had 17 points and eight rebounds to lead then-No. 22 Virginia to a 57-54 win over then-No. 10 Louisville on March 7, 2020.
• The game was the last for both teams in 2019-20 as the ACC and NCAA tournaments were canceled due to the pandemic.
• Kihei Clark added 18 points, five rebounds and five assists as UVA earned its 15th league win and No. 2 seed in the ACC Tournament.
• Virginia led 31-24 at the half, but needed a Clark 3-pointer with 28 seconds left and a pair of free throws from Diakite with three seconds left to seal the win.
• Jordan Nwora led the Cardinals (24-7, 15-5) with 18 points.
Hoo Are These Cavaliers?
• Kihei Clark, who has handed out six or more assists in seven contests, has averaged 9.8 points and team-high 4.6 assists.
• Sam Hauser leads the team in scoring (15.3 ppg) and 3-pointers (57), and is second in rebounding (6.7 rpg).
Hauser is shooting 51 percent from the field, 44.5 percent from 3-point range and 86.1 percent from the foul line.
• Jay Huff leads the team in blocked shots (2.5 bpg) and rebounding (7.0 rpg), and is second in scoring (13.3 ppg).
• Trey Murphy III (10.8 ppg) leads UVA in free throw shooting (91.4%) and 3-point shooting (45.8%), and is second with 44 3-pointers.
• Reece Beekman has a team-high 27 steals.
• Tomas Woldetensae (43.8 3FG%) provides bench scoring, while Casey Morsell (4.7 ppg) is UVA’s top perimeter defender.
• Justin McKoy (3.6 ppg and 2.9 rpg) and Kadin Shedrick (2.5 ppg & 2.2 rpg) have added depth.
UVA Ranked No. 21 in Latest AP Poll
• Virginia is ranked No. 21 in the latest Associated Press poll.
• UVA has been ranked in the top 25 of the AP poll for 17 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
• Sam Hauser had 18 points as No. 21 Virginia beat Miami 61-52 during Senior Day on March 1 at John Paul Jones Arena.
• Trey Murphy III added 12 points and Justin McKoy added eight as UVA (16-6, 12-4 ACC) had 20 bench points in the win.
• Virginia outrebounded Miami 35-32.
• Kameron McGusty led Miami (7-16, 3-15) with 14 points.
On The Horizon
• No. 21 Virginia returns to action in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday, March 11. Opponent and tipoff time is TBA.