No. 11 Virginia Hosts Syracuse Saturday
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 11 Virginia (10-3, 2-2 ACC) hosts Syracuse (10-5, 3-1 ACC) Saturday (Jan. 7). Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 5 p.m. on ACC Network.
For Openers
• Virginia (10-3, 2-2 ACC) has a three-game winning streak vs. Syracuse.
• The Orange are fourth in the ACC at 3-1, while the Cavaliers are tied for fifth at 2-2.
• Tony Bennett needs one win to become UVA’s all-time winningest men’s basketball coach.
• Jayden Gardner needs one rebound to become the only active player in Division I with 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.
• UVA ranks fifth nationally in assist/turnover ratio (1.62), sixth in turnovers per game (9.8), 13th in scoring defense (59.1 ppg), 35th in free throw attempts per game (21.9) and 41st in free throws made per game (15.5).
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-Syracuse 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 326-120 (.731) mark in 14 seasons at UVA and 395-153 (.721) career mark in 17 seasons as a head coach.
• Bennett needs one win to pass Terry Holland (326-173, 16 seasons) as the all-time winningest coach at UVA.
• Bennett needs five 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. 11 in Latest AP Poll
• UVA is ranked No. 11 in the latest AP national poll and has been ranked in the top-20 in all nine 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 (11.9 ppg, 5.9 apg), Reece Beekman (9.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 4.8 apg, Jayden Gardner (11.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg), Kadin Shedrick (9.2 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.7 bpg) and Armaan Franklin (11 ppg, 41% 3FG) have started 12 of 13 games. Clark, Gardner, Franklin, Ben Vander Plas (6.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg) and Isaac McKneely (5.3 ppg, 35.3% 3FG) started vs. UAlbany. Beekman missed his first career game vs. UAlbany due to injury.
• Ryan Dunn (2.3 ppg, 2.4 rpg), Francisco Caffaro (2.4 ppg, 1.8 rpg) and Taine Murray (1.7 ppg) provide depth off the bench.
• Isaac Traudt and Leon Bond III are redshirting this season.
All-Time vs. Syracuse
• UVA is 11-6 all-time against Syracuse, including a 9-2 mark in ACC action, in the series that dates back to 1983-84.
• Virginia has a three-game winning streak against the Orange, including a 74-69 win last season in Syracuse.
• UVA is 4-2 vs. Syracuse in Charlottesville, including an 81-58 win in the last meeting on Jan. 25, 2021, at John Paul Jones Arena.
• UVA has held the Orange to 69 or fewer points in each of the last 13 meetings between the teams.”
• Head coach Tony Bennett is 10-3 all-time against Syracuse.
Last Time vs. The Orange
• Kihei Clark scored 17 points and handed out eight assists as Virginia topped Syracuse at Carrier Dome on Jan. 1, 2022, at Carrier Dome.
• Armaan Franklin added 17 points and Jayden Gardner had 15 points and Kadin Shedrick chipped in 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who improved to 8-5, 2-1 ACC.
• Buddy Boeheim led the Orange with a game-high 27 points.
• Virginia shot 52.6 percent and scored 40 points in the paint.
• The Cavaliers scored 14 points off 11 Syracuse turnovers.
• Syracuse outrebounded UVA 37-33.
Hot and Cold
• UVA is averaging 69.8 points per game, most since averaging 71.4 points in 2018-19.
• UVA scored 70 or more points in its first six games (7 overall) for the first time since 2003-04 (8 games).
• UVA has scored 66 or fewer points in the six of its past seven games.
• UVA shot 45.2 percent (47 of 104) from distance in its first six games and shooting 31.5 percent (46 of 146) from 3-point land in its last seven games.
• UVA is shooting 44.2 percent (19 of 43) from 3-point range in its past two games.
• UVA scored at least 70 points in six straight games for the first time since December of 2014.
• UVA is shooting 45.9 percent from the field, including 37.2 percent from 3-point range and 70.9 percent free throws.
• UVA shot 44.9 percent from the field, including 32.3 percent from 3-point range, last season.
Last Time Out
• Pittsburgh (11-4, 4-0 ACC) snapped No. 11 Virginia’s (10-3, 2-2) eight-game series winning streak, defeating the Cavaliers 68-65 at the Peterson Events Center Tuesday night (Jan. 3).
• The Panthers outscored UVA 45-32 in the second half, including a decisive 14-0 run.
• Kihei Clark scored a game-high 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting, dished out eight assists and added four rebounds.
• Armaan Franklin (14), Reece Beekman (12) and Kadin Shedrick (10) also scored in double figures for the Hoos.
• UVA attempted a season-low four free throws in the loss.
On The Horizon
• No. 11 Virginia hosts North Carolina in ACC action on Tuesday, Jan. 10. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 9 p.m. on ESPN.