No. 10 Virginia Hosts Virginia Tech in Smithfield Commonwealth Clash
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 10 Virginia (13-3, 5-2 ACC) hosts in-state rival Virginia Tech (11-6, 1-5 ACC) Wednesday at John Paul Jones Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. on ESPNU.
For Openers
• No. 10 Virginia is tied for third in the ACC at 5-2, while Virginia Tech is 12th at 1-5.
• Kihei Clark (110 wins) needs one win to pass Mamadi Diakite (110 from 2017-20) for first on UVA’s career wins list.
• The Virginia-Virginia Tech game is part of the Smithfield Commonwealth Clash, which is a head-to-head, points-based athletics competition between the schools.
• UVA ranks fourth nationally in assist/turnover ratio (1.67), fifth in turnovers per game (9.5), 11th in scoring defense (59.4 ppg), 23rd in 3-point percentage (38.5%), 32nd in fouls per game (14.4) and 35th in turnover margin (3.3).
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-Virginia Tech game will be televised on ESPNU 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 329-120 (.733) mark in 14 seasons at UVA and 398-153 (.722) 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 two 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. 10 in Latest AP Poll
• UVA is ranked No. 10 in the latest AP national poll and has been ranked in the top-20 in all 11 polls.
• UVA’s No. 2 ranking on Dec. 12 as 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.
• 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 ppg, 6 apg), Reece Beekman (9.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 4.9 apg), Jayden Gardner (10.3 ppg, 4.9 rpg), Kadin Shedrick (8.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.7 bpg) and Armaan Franklin (11.9 ppg, 40.2% 3FG) have started 14 of 16 games. Clark, Beekman, Gardner, Franklin and Ben Vander Plas (7.9 ppg, 4.2 rpg) started at Florida State. Beekman missed his first career game vs. UAlbany due to injury.
• Isaac McKneely (5.9 ppg, 40.6% 3FG) Ryan Dunn (2.6 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1 bpg), Francisco Caffaro (2 ppg, 1.9 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. Virginia Tech
• Virginia is 96-58 all-time vs. Virginia Tech, including a 40-13 mark in Charlottesville, in the series that dates to 1914-15.
• Virginia split two games against Virginia Tech last season, defeating the Hokies 54-52 at John Paul Jones Arena and losing 62-53 at Cassell Coliseum.
• The Cavaliers have a three-game home win streak vs. the Hokies at JPJ.
• The Cavaliers are 3-2 in their last five games against the Hokies and 6-10 in their last 10.
• Head coach Tony Bennett is 17-8 all-time vs. Virginia Tech.
Last Time vs. The Hokies
• Keve Aluma scored 24 points and blocked four shots to lead Virginia Tech to a 62-53 win over Virginia in a Commonwealth Clash at Cassell Coliseum on Monday, Feb. 14, 2022.
• Jayden Gardner recorded his sixth double-double of the season with team highs in points (17) and rebounds (15).
• UVA went 0 of 9 from 3-point range, failing to make a 3-pointer for the first time in 176 games.
• Virginia Tech shot 43.5 percent from the field, while Virginia shot 40 percent (30% in the second half).
• Tech made five 3-pointers and went 17 of 21 on free throws.
More on the Commonwealth Clash
• The Smithfield Commonwealth Clash encourages a friendly rivalry between Virginia and Virginia Tech across all school-sponsored sports with 21 individual event points on the line.
• The school that accumulates 11 points or more will be crowned the winner of the Virginia529 Commonwealth Clash trophy.
• The UVA-VT game is worth a half point in the Clash and the Cavaliers lead this year’s Clash 4.5-1.0.
• UVA captured the Clash in 2015, 2016 and 2019, while Virginia Tech has won the Clash in 2017, 2018 and 2022.
• The 2020 and 2021 clashes were canceled due to the pandemic.
Player Notes
• Shooting guard Armaan Franklin (26, 21, 20, 20) leads Virginia with four 20-point games, while Jayden Gardner (26), and Ben Vander Plas (20) have also registered 20-point efforts.
• Franklin has led UVA in scoring in six contests this season and needs 50 points to reach 1,000 career points.
• Franklin is averaging 7.3 rebounds over the last three games.
• Vander Plas collected 15 points, seven rebounds and three assists in his second start at Florida State (1/14/23).
• Vander Plas is averaging 16 points and 7.5 rebounds the past two games and is 8 of 19 from 3-point range over the past three games.
• Gardner (12 points, 11 rebounds) registered his 37th career double-double vs. Michigan.
• Gardner snared his 1,000th career rebound vs. Syracuse.
• Isaac McKneely matched a career high with four 3-pointers vs. Syracuse and has made at least one 3-pointer in 12 games.
• McKneely is shooting 56.5 percent (13 of 23) from 3-point range over the last five games.
• Reece Beekman registered his fifth career game with five or more steals vs. North Carolina (1/10).
• Beekman is shooting career bests from 3-point range (48.6%) and charity stripe (81%).
Last Time Out
• Armaan Franklin scored 20 points and Ben Vander Plas added 15 as then-No. 13 Virginia (13-3, 5-2 ACC) beat Florida State 67-58 during ACC action in Tallahassee Saturday (Jan. 14).
• Franklin drilled four 3-pointers and Vander Plas had three as the Hoos finished 11 of 22 from distance in the road win.
• Kihei Clark added nine points and six assists, and Ryan Dunn gave the Hoos a lift off the bench with nine points, four rebounds and three blocked shots.
• UVA shot 45 percent and had a season low six turnovers.
• Cameron Corhen led FSU with 15 points and Matthew Cleveland added 10 points and 10 rebounds.
On The Horizon
• No. 10 Virginia travels to Wake Forest (13-5, 5-2 ACC) Saturday, Jan. 21. Tipoff at Joel Coliseum is set for 2 p.m.