No. 1 Seed Virginia to Play No. 8 Seed Syracuse in ACC Quarterfinals
GREENSBORO, N.C. – No. 1 Seed Virginia (17-6) will play No. 8 Seed Syracuse (16-8) in the ACC quarterfinals on Thursday, March 11. Tipoff at Greensboro Coliseum is set for Noon on ESPN or ESPN2. ESPN Radio and Virginia Sports Radio Network.
For Openers
Virginia earned its 10th ACC regular-season championship and sixth No. 1 seed for the ACC Tournament with its 68-58 win at Louisville on March 6.
As of March 9, Virginia ranks third nationally in personal fouls per game (12.9), turnovers per game (9.3) and free throw percentage (81.2%), fifth in scoring defense (60.1), 13th in assist/turnover ratio (1.49) and 3-point field goal percentage (38.6%), and 28th in field goal percentage (48.1%).
Sam Hauser was named to the All-ACC first team, while Jay Huff was named to the All-ACC second team and All-Defensive team. In addition, Kihei Clark earned All-ACC honorable mention honors.
Sam Hauser (51.7 FG%, 44.4 3FG%, 87.5 FT%), Jay Huff (59.2 FG%, 40.6 3FG%, 83.7 FT%) and Trey Murphy (51.8 FG%, 44.6 3FG%, 91.9 FT%) are on pace to become the only players in UVA basketball history to shot 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range and 80 percent from the free throw line in the same season.
Broadcast Information
The Virginia-Syracuse game will be televised on ESPN/2 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 Jay Huff for the “Wahoo Walkthrough” at 11 a.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 294-102 (.742) mark in 12 seasons at Virginia and 363-135 (.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.
Bennett guided the Cavaliers to their 10th ACC regular-season championship in 2020-21, including the fifth in the last eight seasons.
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 149-62 (.706) in ACC play (84-21 at home & 65-41 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 (.706) among ACC head coaches with 100 or more ACC regular-season wins.
All-Time in the ACC Tournament
Virginia will be the No. 1 seed for the ACC Tournament for the sixth time in school history and fifth under head coach Tony Bennett (2014-2015-2018-2019-2021)
UVA captured ACC Tournament titles as the No. 6 seed in 1976, No. 1 seed in 2014 and No. 1 seed in 2018.
The Cavaliers were the No. 2 seed in the 2020 ACC Tournament that was canceled due to the pandemic.
The Cavaliers are 42-63 all-time in the ACC Tournament and 17-24 in Greensboro including the 2014 tournament title.
UVA has posted a 9-3 mark as the top seed in the ACC Tournament (1-1 in 1981, 3-0 in 2014, 1-1 in 2015, 3-0 in 2018 and 1-1 in 2019).
UVA has advanced to the ACC Tournament semifinals in five of the last six ACC tournaments.
UVA went 1-1 in the 2019 ACC Tournament, defeating No. 8 seed NC State (76-56) and losing to No. 4 seed Florida State (69-59).
Bennett is 11-8 all-time in the ACC Tournament.
All-Time vs. Syracuse
UVA is 9-6 all-time against Syracuse, including an 8-2 mark in ACC action, in the series that dates back to 1983-84.
Virginia defeated the Orange 81-58 on Jan. 25 at John Paul Jones Arena.
UVA is 1-2 vs. Syracuse in neutral-site contests.
The teams would meet for the first time in the ACC Tournament.
UVA has held the Orange to 68 or fewer points in each of the last 11 meetings between the teams.
Head coach Tony Bennett is 8-3 all-time against Syracuse.
Last Time vs. the Orange
• Jay Huff scored a career-high 21 points and Sam Hauser added 21 points on seven 3-pointers as then-No. 8 Virginia beat Syracuse 81-58 on Jan. 25.
Huff tied a career high with 12 rebounds and UVA made 14 3-pointers in the win.
Trey Murphy III chipped in 16 points and Reece Beekman added 10 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Kihei Clark had a game-high nine assists for UVA.
Hoo Are These Cavaliers?
Sam Hauser leads the team in scoring (15.8 ppg) and 3-pointers (59), and is second in rebounding (6.8 rpg).
Hauser is shooting 51.7 percent from the field, 44.4 percent from 3-point range and 87.5 percent from the foul line.
Jay Huff leads the team in blocked shots (2.5 bpg) and rebounding (6.9 rpg), and is second in scoring (13.1 ppg).
Kihei Clark, who has handed out six or more assists in seven contests, has averaged 9.5 points and team-high 4.5 assists.
Trey Murphy III (11.1 ppg) leads UVA in free throw shooting (91.7%) and 3-point shooting (44.6%), and is second with 45 3-pointers.
Reece Beekman is an excellent defender and has a team-high 27 steals.
Tomas Woldetensae (42.9 3FG%), Casey Morsell (4.7 ppg), Justin McKoy (3.6 ppg and 3.1 rpg) and Francisco Caffaro add depth off the bench.
UVA Ranked No. 16 in Latest AP Poll
Virginia is ranked No. 16 in the latest Associated Press poll.
UVA has been ranked in the top 25 of the AP poll for 18 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 24 points as then-No. 21 Virginia (17-6, 13-4 ACC) defeated Louisville (13-6, 8-5 ACC) 68-58 for its 10th ACC regular-season title on March 6.
Hauser scored 14 of his season-high 24 points in the second half as UVA improved to 7-2 all-time at KFC Yum! Center.
Trey Murphy III added 17 points and Jay Huff chipped in 10 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots.
UVA limited Louisville’s Carlik Jones to six points on 2 of 15 shooting.
The Cavaliers shot 51.8 percent and were 11 of 11 from the free throw line.
UVA outrebounded the Cardinals 34-30 and committed just five turnovers in the victory.
On The Horizon
The winner of the Virginia-Syracuse ACC quarterfinal advances to the ACC semifinals on Friday, March 12. Tipoff at Greensboro Coliseum is set for 6:30 p.m. on ESPN or ESPN2.