No. 7 Virginia Hosts Boston College Saturday
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 7 Virginia (15-3, 7-2 ACC) hosts Boston College (10-11, 4-6 ACC) Saturday (Jan. 28) at John Paul Jones Arena. Tipoff is set for Noon on Regional Sports Networks.
For Openers
• No. 7 Virginia (15-3) is second in the ACC at 7-2, while Boston College (10-11) is 11th at 4-6.
• The Cavaliers have a five-game win streak and are 9-1 at John Paul Jones Arena.
• UVA has a three-game win streak vs. Boston College and seven-game win streak against the Eagles at JPJ.
• Armaan Franklin is averaging 16.6 points during his eight-game double figure streak.
• UVA ranks first nationally in assist/turnover ratio (1.78), third in turnovers per game (9.1), 12th in scoring defense (60.3 ppg), 13th in 3-point percentage (38.8%), 26th in assists per game (16.2), 28th in fouls per game (14.4), 33rd in blocks per game (4.8), 34th in turnover margin (3.2) and 39th in scoring margin (10.1).
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-Boston College game will be televised on Regional Sports Networks.
• 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.
Suits and Sneakers/Shoes of Hope
• Head coach Tony Bennett and his staff will wear basketball shoes painted by cancer patients at UVA Children’s Hospital (from the Shoes for Hope event) and suits as part of the annual American Cancer Society’s Coaches vs. Cancer Suits And Sneakers Week. The shoes will be auctioned off as a fundraiser for Coaches vs. Cancer.
• Bennett and his staff join coaches nationwide in raising funds and awareness for the American Cancer Society and their efforts to prevent and fight cancer in every person. Visit Coaches.Cancer.org to learn more about how we are making a difference in the fight against cancer. Information about the auction can be found on the instagram and facebook page: @s4hvirginia.
The Head Coach
• Dean and Markel Families Head Men’s Basketball Coach Tony Bennett has a 331-120 (.734) mark in 14 seasons at UVA and 400-153 (.723) 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 (1/7/23).
• Bennett recorded his 400th career wins at Wake Forest (1/21/23).
• 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. 7 in Latest AP Poll
• UVA is ranked No. 7 in the latest AP national poll and has been ranked in the top-20 in all 12 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.
• Kihei Clark (11.6 ppg, 5.8 apg), Reece Beekman (9.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 5.1 apg), Jayden Gardner (10.1 ppg, 4.7 rpg), Armaan Franklin (12.4 ppg, 40.8% 3FG) and Ben Vander Plas (8.1 ppg, 4.5 rpg) have started the past three games.
• Isaac McKneely (6.3 ppg, 41.7% 3FG), Ryan Dunn (2.8 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.1 bpg), Kadin Shedrick (7.4 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.5 bpg), Francisco Caffaro (2 ppg, 1.8 rpg) and Taine Murray (1.7 ppg) provide depth off the bench.
• UVA used the starting lineup of Clark, Beekman, Franklin, Gardner and Shedrick in 14 games.
• Isaac Traudt and Leon Bond III are redshirting this season.
All-Time vs. Boston College
• Virginia is 18-8 all-time vs. Boston College, including a 13-8 ACC mark, in the series that dates to 1971-72.
• The Cavaliers have a three-game win streak against the Eagles, including a 67-55 win last season.
• UVA has won 11 of the last 13 games in the series.
• UVA is 10-2, including a seven-game winning streak, against Boston College in Charlottesville.
• UVA has limited BC to 58 or fewer points in seven of the last nine meetings.
• Head coach Tony Bennett is 12-5 all-time against Boston College.
Last Time vs. The Eagles
• Kihei Clark scored a season-high 19 points and Jayden Gardner added 17 as Virginia downed Boston College 67-55 in ACC action on Feb. 1, 2022, at John Paul Jones Arena.
• Kadin Shedrick added a career-best 13 points and Armaan Franklin chipped in 12 at UVA improved to 13-9, 7-5 ACC.
• Virginia drilled a season-high 26 free throws on 29 attempts.
• The Cavaliers scored 20 points off of 14 BC turnovers.
Player Notes
• Shooting guard Armaan Franklin (26, 25, 21, 20, 20) leads Virginia with five 20-point games, while Jayden Gardner (26), Kihei Clark (20) and Ben Vander Plas (20) have also registered 20-point efforts.
• Franklin has led UVA in scoring in seven contests this season and needs 10 points to reach 1,000 career points.
• Franklin registered his first career double-double with 25 points and career-best 10 rebounds at Wake Forest.
• Franklin is averaging 7.8 rebounds over the last four games.
• Vander Plas is averaging 12.5 points and 7.3 rebounds the past four games and is 10 of 24 from 3-point range during that span.
• Gardner (12 points, 11 rebounds) registered his 37th career double-double vs. Michigan and 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 14 games.
• McKneely is shooting 54.8 percent (17 of 31) from 3-point range during his seven-game 3-pointer streak.
• 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 (46.7%) and charity stripe (82.6%).
• Ryan Dunn has registered four games with three blocks.
Last Time Out
• No. 10 Virginia tallied its fifth consecutive ACC win in a tightly-contested 76-67 win at Wake Forest Jan. 21.
The Cavaliers led by as many as 19 points in the first half and Wake managed to cut the UVA lead to just one midway through the second half, but the Hoos made stops defensively down the stretch to deliver head coach Tony Bennett’s 400th career win.
Armaan Franklin scored 25 points and added a career-high 10 rebounds for his first career double-double.
Kihei Clark added 12 points and Isaac McKneely added 11.
UVA drilled a season-high 15 3-pointers and outrebounded Wake Forest 38-32.
Damari Monsant led the Demon Deacons with 25 points.
On The Horizon
• No. 7 Virginia travels to Syracuse on Monday, Jan. 30. Tipoff at JMA Wireless Dome is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN.