No. 13 Virginia Hosts North Carolina Tuesday
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 13 Virginia (11-3, 3-2 ACC) hosts North Carolina (11-5, 3-2 ACC) Tuesday (Jan. 10). Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 9 p.m. on ESPN.
For Openers
• No. 13 Virginia (11-3, 3-2 ACC) aims to end a two-game losing streak vs. North Carolina (11-5, 3-2 ACC).
• Virginia, North Carolina and Duke are tied for fourth in the ACC at 3-2.
• UVA has a seven-game home win streak vs. UNC.
• Tony Bennett became UVA’s all-time winningest men’s basketball coach with the win over Syracuse.
• Kadin Shedrick (Holly Springs) and Jayden Gardner (Wake Forest) are North Carolina natives.
• UNC forward Justin McKoy played two seasons at Virginia from 2020-21.
• UVA freshman Leon Bond III and UNC freshman Seth Trimble are both from the Milwaukee area and competed against each other in high school and AAU.
• UVA ranks fifth nationally in assist/turnover ratio (1.66), sixth in turnovers per game (9.9), 15th in scoring defense (59.8 ppg), 35th in free throw attempts per game (21.9) and 41st in free throws made per game (15.5).
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-North Carolina 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 327-120 (.732) mark in 14 seasons at UVA and 396-153 (.721) career mark in 17 seasons as a head coach.
• Bennett passed Terry Holland (326-173, 16 seasons) as the all-time winningest coach at UVA with the win over Syracuse.
• Bennett needs four 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 10 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.
• 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 (11.4 ppg, 6.3 apg), Reece Beekman (9.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 5 apg, Jayden Gardner (11.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg), Kadin Shedrick (9.4 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 1.9 bpg) and Armaan Franklin (11.4 ppg, 41.4% 3FG) have started 13 of 14 games. Clark, Gardner, Franklin, Ben Vander Plas (6.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg) and Isaac McKneely (5.8 ppg, 37.9% 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 (2.2 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. North Carolina
• UVA is 60-133 all-time vs. North Carolina in the series that dates to 1910-11.
• North Carolina went 2-0 vs. Virginia last season, defeating the Cavaliers 74-58 at Smith Center and 63-43 in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals.
• Virginia is 37-44 all-time vs. the Tar Heels in Charlottesville.
• UNC snapped UVA’s seven-game winning streak in the series with its 74-58 win on Jan. 8, 2022, at Smith Center.
• Bennett is 12-10 all-time vs. North Carolina, including a loss as head coach of Washington State in the 2008 NCAA Sweet 16.
Last Time vs. The Tar Heels
• Brady Manek scored 21 points to lead No. 3 seed North Carolina to a 63-43 win over No. 6 seed Virginia in the 2022 ACC Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday, March 10.
• Jayden Gardner led Virginia with 17 points.
• UVA’s 34.6 percent field goal shooting marked a season low
• UVA’s 13 first half points were its lowest in a half since scoring 13 in a first half win vs. William & Mary on Dec. 5, 1984.
• UVA shot less than 20 percent in a half (5 of 27 for 18.5%) for the first time since shooting 18.4 percent (5 of 22) vs. California on Dec. 22, 2015.
• UNC outrebounded UVA 46-32, including 25-18 en route to its 33-13 halftime lead.
Heating Back Up
• UVA is averaging 70 points per game, most since averaging 71.4 points in 2018-19.
• UVA scored 70 or more points in its first six games (8 overall) for the first time since 2003-04 (8 games).
• UVA scored at least 70 points in six straight games for the first time since December of 2014.
• UVA shot 45.2 percent (47 of 104) from distance in its first six games and 44.9 percent (31 of 69) from 3-point range in its past three games.
• UVA is shooting 45.8 percent from the field, including 38 percent from 3-point range and 70.7 percent free throws.
• UVA’s 38 percent 3-point percentage is its best since shooting 39.5 percent in 2018-19.
• UVA shot 44.9 percent from the field, including 32
Last Time Out
• In front of an amped-crowd at John Paul Jones Arena, Tony Bennett became the winningest head coach in University of Virginia men’s basketball history.
• Then-No. 11 UVA never trailed Saturday (Jan. 7) night in a 73-66 win over ACC rival Syracuse. The Cavaliers (11-3, 3-2) shot 12 of 26 from 3-point range against the Orange (10-6, 3-2).
• Armaan Franklin led five Cavaliers in double figures with 16 points. Franklin and Isaac McKneely (12 points) each buried four 3-pointers.
• Reece Beekman added 13 points and seven assists and Kadin Shedrick had 11 points and seven rebounds.
• Jayden Gardner (10 points) grabbed three rebounds to become the lone active player in Division I with 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.
• Joe Girard III led Syracuse with 19 points and rookie Judah Mintz added 18.
On The Horizon
• No. 13 Virginia travels to Florida State for an ACC contest on Saturday, Jan. 14. Tipoff at Donald L. Tucker Center is set for 4 p.m. on ESPN2.