No. 15 Houston Next for Virginia
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia travels to No. 15 Houston in nonconference action on Tuesday, Nov. 16. Tipoff at Fertitta Center is slated for 8 p.m. on ESPN.
For Openers
• UVA meets Houston for the first time since 1989-90.
• UVA meets its first ranked opponent and is 47-38 against ranked foes in the Tony Bennett era.
• UVA is 147-42 (.778) in nonconference action under Bennett, including a 64-34 mark away from John Paul Jones Arena.
• Virginia and Houston have been two of college basketball best programs over the past five seasons. UVA is 108-21 during the five-year span, while Houston is 113-24.
• Jayden Gardner has averaged 18 points and 10.8 rebounds in four career games against Houston. Gardner tallied 29 points and 19 rebounds in a 69-59 loss to the Cougars at East Carolina.
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-Houston game will be televised on ESPN 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 296-104 (.740) mark in 13 seasons at Virginia and 365-137 (.727) career mark in 16 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).
Hoo Are These Cavaliers?
• We play defense, take good shots, share and take care of the basketball, rebound and play more defense.
• UVA is led by its returning backcourt of Kihei Clark (9.5 ppg & 3.5 apg) and Reece Beekman (7.5 ppg, 4.5 apg & 5.0 spg), and the additions of transfers Jayden Gardner (18 ppg, 8.5 rpg) and Armaan Franklin (14 ppg).
• Clark has played 95 games at UVA and was an All-ACC honorable mention selection last season, while Beekman had a team-high 30 steals and was second with 75 assists.
• The Cavaliers added transfers Gardner (East Carolina) and Franklin (Indiana) to fill the void left by 2020-21 standouts Sam Hauser (16.0 ppg), Jay Huff (13.0 ppg) and Trey Murphy III (11.3 ppg).
• Gardner averaged 18.5 points and 8.9 rebounds in 79 career games at East Carolina, while Franklin averaged 11.4 points and shot 42.5 percent from 3-point range for the Hoosiers in 2020-21.
• Kadin Shedrick (8.5 ppg & 6 rpg) and Francisco Caffaro ( 5 rpg) anchor the paint, while Carson McCorkle, Kody Stattmann, Taine Murray and Igor Miliĉić Jr. provide perimeter depth.
All-Time vs. Houston
• UVA is 3-3 all-time vs. Houston in the series that dates back to Dec. 16, 1982 when the teams squared off in Tokyo, Japan.
• The Cavaliers defeated the Cougars 72-63 without Ralph Sampson, who missed the game with an illness. UVA radio analyst Jimmy Miller had 14 points in the win for the Cavaliers.
• UVA traveled to Hawaii from Japan and suffered its historic loss two games later against Chaminade (with Sampson) on Dec. 23, 1982.
• UVA is 0-2 vs. the Cougars in Houston, including an 81-58 loss on Feb. 7, 1988.
Last Time vs. the Cougars
• Bryant Stith scored a game-high 26 points to lead Virginia to a 72-54 win over Houston on Dec. 10, 1989.
• Anthony Oliver added 14 points and John Crotty chipped in 12.
• Carl Herrera and Byron Smith each had 13 points for Houston.
• UVA trailed 32-30 at the half, but outscored Houston by 20 points (42-22) in the second half.
UVA vs. Ranked Opponents
• UVA was 1-3 vs. ranked opponents in 2020-21.
• The Cavaliers were 4-2 against ranked opponents in 2019-20.
• UVA is 47-38 against ranked opponents in the Tony Bennett era.
• UVA’s 11 ranked wins in 2018-19 marked a school record.
• UVA is 160-333 vs. ranked opponents since 1953-54.
• UVA is 1-31 all-time vs. No. 1-ranked opponents (86-73 win vs. No. 1 North Carolina on Jan. 30, 1986).
On The Horizon
• Virginia hosts Coppin State on Friday, Nov. 19. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 7 p.m. on Regional Sports Networks.