No. 13 Virginia Hosts UAlbany Wednesday
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 13 Virginia (8-2, 1-1 ACC) hosts UAlbany (5-9) in nonconference action on Wednesday, Dec. 28. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 6 p.m. on ACC Network.
For Openers
• Virginia meets UAlbany for the second time.
• UVA is 5-1 at home and 7-1 in nonconference play.
• UVA ranks seventh nationally in turnovers per game (9.8), 10th in assist/turnover ratio (1.57), 13th in free throws made per game (17.7), 18th in free throw attempts per game (24.5), and 18th in scoring defense (59.8 ppg).
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-UAlbany game will be televised on ACC Network 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 324-119 (.731) mark in 14 seasons at UVA and 393-152 (.721) career mark in 17 seasons as a head coach.
• Bennett needs three wins to pass Terry Holland (326-173, 16 seasons) as the all-time winningest coach at UVA.
• Bennett needs seven 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. 13 in Latest AP Poll
• UVA is ranked No. 13 in the latest AP national poll and has been ranked in the top-20 in all eight polls.
• UVA’s No. 2 ranking was UVA’s highest since spending the last four weeks at No. 2 in 2018-19.
• UVA returned to the top-5 for the first time on Nov. 21 since a No. 4-preseason ranking in 2020-21.
• Prior to this season, 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.
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 (11.5 ppg, 5.1 apg), Reece Beekman (9.4 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 5.1 apg, 1.3 spg), Jayden Gardner (11.4 ppg, 5.9 rpg), Kadin Shedrick (9.1 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.8 bpg) and Armaan Franklin (9.8 ppg, 39.5% 3FG) have started all 10 games for the Cavaliers.
• Transfer Ben Vander Plas (8.1 ppg, 3.9 rpg), freshmen Isaac McKneely (4.9 ppg, 34.2% 3FG) and Ryan Dunn (2.7 ppg, 2.3 rpg), Francisco Caffaro (2.9 ppg, 2.0 rpg) and Taine Murray (2.0 ppg) provide depth.
• Isaac Traudt and Leon Bond III are redshirting this season.
All-Time vs. UAlbany
• Virginia is 1-0 all-time vs. UAlbany in a series that dates to 2007.
• UVA defeated UAlbany 84-57 in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament on March 16, 2007.
• J.R. Reynolds scored 28 points to lead No. 4 seed Virginia past No. 13 seed UAlbany.
• Sean Singletary added 23 points and Mamadi Diane chipped in 10 as UVA shot 53.6 percent in the win.
• Jamar Wilson led UAlbany with 25 points.
Hot and Cold
• UVA is averaging 70.2 points per game, most since averaging 71.4 points in 2018-19.
• UVA scored 70 or more points in its first six games for the first time since 2003-04 (eight games).
• UVA has scored 64 or fewer points in the past four games.
• UVA is shooting 25.9 percent (22 of 85) from 3-point range during the past four games after shooting 45.2 percent (47 of 104) from distance the first six games.
• UVA 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 45.4 percent from the field, including 36.5 percent from 3-point range and 72.2 percent free throws.
• UVA shot 44.9 percent from the field, including 32.3 percent from 3-point range, last season.
Last Time Out
• Isaiah Wong scored 24 points to lead then-No. 22 Miami to a 66-64 win over then-No. 6 Virginia at Watsco Center on Dec. 20.
• Virginia rallied from a 15-point deficit with a 16-2 run to make it 43-42 Miami, and three Kihei Clark free throws late in the second stanza cut the Miami lead to 65-64.
• Ben Vander Plas scored a season-high 20 points to lead the Cavaliers (8-2, 1-1 ACC) and Clark added 13.
• Reece Beekman recorded 10 points, nine rebounds and nine assists for the Cavaliers.
• UVA shot 36.7 percent from the field, including 25.1 percent from 3-point range.
On The Horizon
• No. 13 Virginia returns to ACC action at Georgia Tech on Saturday, Dec. 31. Tipoff at McCamish Pavilion is set for Noon on ACC Network.