No. 3 Virginia Opens ACC Play Against Florida State Saturday
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 3 Virginia (6-0) hosts Florida State (1-8) in its ACC opener on Saturday, Dec. 3. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 2 p.m. on ESPN2.
For Openers
• UVA is 6-0 for the first time since starting 7-0 in 2019-20.
• Virginia opens its 70th season of Atlantic Coast Conference action vs. Florida State.
• The Cavaliers have a 14-game winning streak in ACC openers and are 13-0 in ACC openers under head coach Tony Bennett.
• Virginia is 34-35 all-time in ACC openers.
• The Cavaliers used a Jayden Gardner buzzer-beater in a 57-56 win over Pitt in last year’s ACC season opener in Charlottesville.
• UVA ranks third nationally in 3-point percentage (45.2%), seventh in assist/turnover ratio (1.74) and free throws made per game (19.2), eighth in free throw attempts per game (26.5), ninth in turnovers per game (9.5), 16th in effective FG percentage (57.9%) and 22nd in field goal percentage (50%).
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-Florida State game will be televised on ESPN2 and streamed online at WatchESPN.com.
• 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 322-117 (.733) mark in 14 seasons at UVA and 391-150 (.723) career mark in 17 seasons as a head coach.
• Bennett needs five wins to pass Terry Holland (326-173, 16 seasons) as the all-time winningest coach at UVA.
• Bennett needs nine wins to reach 400 career wins.
• Bennett has guided the Cavaliers to five ACC regular-season titles (2014, 2015, 2018, 2019 and 2021), two ACC Tournament titles (2014 and 2018) and one NCAA national championship (2019).
• The three-time National (2007, 2015 and 2018) and four-time ACC Coach of the Year (2014, 2015, 2018 and 2019) guided UVA to its 10th consecutive postseason berth in 2021-22.
UVA Ranked No. 3 in Latest AP Poll
• UVA is ranked No. 3 in the latest AP national poll.
• The No. 3 ranking is UVA’s highest since 2018-19.
• UVA returned to the top-5 for the first time last week since a No. 4-preseason ranking in 2020-21.
• The Cavaliers’ last top-5 ranking during the regular season was on Dec. 2, 2019.
• The Cavaliers were ranked No. 18 in the AP Preseason poll.
• UVA was ranked in the preseason AP top-25 for the fifth straight year and ninth in the last 10 seasons under Tony Bennett.
About The Cavaliers
• UVA returns all five starters from last season’s team, which finished 21-14, 12-8 in the ACC (sixth) and advanced to the NIT quarterfinals.
• We play defense, take quality shots, pass the basketball, limit turnovers and transition points, rebound and play more defense.
• The Cavaliers return 91.4 percent of its scoring from last season, most among all NCAA Division I teams (Portland 91.1%, Dayton 89.4% and Penn 88.5%).
• Returning starters Kihei Clark (9.5 ppg, 5.0 apg), Reece Beekman (11.8 ppg, 5.1 apg, 2.0 spg), Jayden Gardner (11.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg), Kadin Shedrick (11.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 2.0 spg) and Armaan Franklin (13.8 ppg, 42.3% 3FG) have started all six games for the Cavaliers.
• Transfer Ben Vander Plas (8.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg), freshmen Isaac McKneely (4.5 ppg, 47.1% 3FG) and Ryan Dunn (3.2 ppg, 1.6 rpg), Francisco Caffaro (3.2 ppg, 2.0 rpg) and Taine Murray (2.7 ppg) provide depth.
• Isaac Traudt and Leon Bond III are redshirting this season.
All-Time vs. Florida State
• Virginia is 26-28 all-time vs. Florida State, including a 16-10 mark in Charlottesville, in a series that began in 1991-92.
• The Seminoles have a two-game winning streak in the series.
• Florida State has won four of the last five meetings, including a dramatic 64-63 win at the buzzer last season in Charlottesville.
• UVA is 5-2 in their last seven games vs. the Seminoles at John Paul Jones Arena.
• UVA has limited Florida State to fewer than 70 points in 20 of the last 21 meetings.
• Head coach Tony Bennett is 9-11 all-time vs. Florida State.
Last Time vs. FSU
• Matthew Cleveland drained a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer to send Florida State to a 64-63 win over Virginia on Feb. 26, 2022, at John Paul Jones Arena.
• Armaan Franklin’s (13 points) pull-up jumper with one second left gave the Cavaliers a 63-61 lead.
Cleveland (20 points) scored the Seminoles’ final eight points.
• Jayden Gardner led UVA with 21 points and Francisco Caffaro pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.
• FSU shot 47.4 percent and won the rebound battle 34-32.
Scoring Surge
• UVA is averaging 76.7 points per game, which is the highest in the Tony Bennett era.
• UVA has scored 70 or more points in its first six games for the first time since starting the 2003-04 season with eight games of 70 or more points.
• UVA has scored at least 70 points in six straight games for the first time since December of 2014.
• UVA is 150-11 when scoring 70 or more points under Bennett.
• The Cavaliers are shooting 50 percent from the field, including 45.2 from 3-point range and 72.3 from the charity stripe.
• UVA shot 44.9 percent from the field, including 32.3 percent from 3-point range, last season.
Last Time Out
• Reece Beekman scored 18 points as No. 3 Virginia (6-0) rallied and held off Michigan (5-2) in an ACC/Big Ten Challenge game on Nov. 29 in Ann Arbor, Mich.
• Virginia trailed 45-34 at the half, but stormed back with a 36-point second half to gain the road win.
• Kihei Clark (16), Jayden Gardner (12), Kadin Shedrick (12) and Ben Vander Plas (10) also scored in double figures.
• Gardner added 11 rebounds for his 37th career double-double.
• Hunter Dickinson led Michigan with 23 points and Jett Howard added 15 points.
• UVA shot 50.9 percent from the field, including 4 of 8 3-point attempts.
On The Horizon
• No. 3 Virginia hosts JMU on Tuesday, Dec. 6. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 8 p.m. on ACC Network.