No. 25 Virginia Opens Season Against Navy
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 25 Virginia hosts Navy in its 2021-22 season opener on Tuesday, Nov. 9. Tipoff for the nonconference game at John Paul Jones Arena is slated for 9 p.m. on ACC Network.
For Openers
• UVA begins its 117th season of men’s basketball, sporting a 1,673-1,182 (.586) all-time record.
• UVA is 22-1 in its last 23 season-opening games, including an 89-54 win over Towson last season at Bubbleville.
• Virginia has an eight-game winning streak on opening night and is 11-1 in season openers under head coach Tony Bennett.
• The lone opening-night loss under Bennett came at George Mason (63-59) to begin the 2012-13 campaign.
• The Cavaliers are 94-22 all-time in 116 season-opening games.
• UVA is 146-41 (.781) in non-conference action under Bennett.
Emmet Street Closure
Due to construction, a portion of Emmet Street from Massie Road to Ivy Road is temporarily closed to through traffic. The Emmet Ivy Garage (EIG) will only be accessible via Ivy Road. There is no direct impact to parking, however, please allow for additional time to navigate this new traffic pattern.
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-Navy 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.
The Head Coach
• Dean and Markel Families Head Men’s Basketball Coach Tony Bennett has a 295-103 (.741) mark in 12 seasons at Virginia and 364-136 (.728) career mark in 15 seasons as a head coach.
• The three-time National (2007, 2015 and 2018) and four-time ACC Coach of the Year (2014, 2015, 2018 and 2019) guided the Cavaliers to their 10th ACC regular-season championship in 2020-21.
• In 2018-19, Bennett led the Cavaliers to their first NCAA national championship, a share of their ninth ACC regular-season title and a school-record 35 wins.
• Bennett has led UVA to 10 consecutive postseason appearances (2012-21) and seven consecutive NCAA tournaments (2014-21).
All-Time vs. Navy
• Virginia is 15-31 all-time against Navy, including a 7-1 mark in Charlottesville, in the series that dates back to 1909-10.
• The Cavaliers have an eight-game winning streak against the Midshipmen, including a 65-56 win in the last meeting between the teams on Dec. 29, 2019 at John Paul Jones Arena.
• UVA lost the first 14 games in the series and didn’t post its first win against Navy until a 25-24 win in 1935.
• UVA has scored 65 or more points in each of the last five meetings between the teams.
Last Time vs. the Midshipmen
• Kihei Clark collected his second career double-double with 10 points and career-high 13 assists as then-No. 16 Virginia defeated Navy 65-56 on Dec. 29, 2019 at John Paul Jones Arena.
• Braxton Key led Virginia with 15 points and Mamadi Diakite added 13 points and Casey Morsell had 10 points.
• UVA shot 53.2 percent from the field and 42.1 percent from 3-point range (8 of 19) in the win.
• Jay Huff added nine points, four rebounds and game-high four blocks as UVA held a 19-4 advantage in bench points.
UVA Ranked No. 25 in AP Poll
• UVA is ranked No. 25 in the Associated Press preseason poll.
• UVA is one of six teams (Gonzaga, Villanova, Baylor, Houston and Illinois) to be ranked every week since the start of the 2020-21 season.
• UVA is ranked in the preseason AP top 25 for the fourth straight year.
• UVA has been ranked in the AP top 25 in the preseason rankings in 10 of the past 11 seasons.
On The Horizon
• No. 25 Virginia hosts Radford in nonconference action on Friday, Nov. 12. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.