No. 7 Cavaliers Host Fighting Irish Saturday Afternoon
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 7 Virginia (20-4, 12-3 ACC) hosts Notre Dame (10-16, 2-13 ACC) in ACC action Saturday (Feb. 18). Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for Noon on ESPN2.
For Openers
• No. 7 Virginia (20-4) is tied for first in the ACC at 12-3, while Notre Dame (10-16) is 14th at 2-13.
• Notre Dame assistant coach Anthony Solomon played at Virginia from 1984-87, helping the Cavaliers to three NCAA tournament appearances and the 1984 Final Four.
• The Cavaliers have won 12 or more ACC games for the sixth consecutive season.
• UVA is 12-1 at home, including a 7-0 ACC record.
• Kihei Clark needs one start and three assists to become UVA’s all-time leader in those categories.
• UVA ranks first nationally in assist/turnover ratio (1.81), fourth in turnovers per game (9.0), 10th in scoring defense (60.3 ppg), 18th in assists per game (16.2), 22nd in fouls per game (14.2) and turnover margin (3.7), 27th in 3-point percentage (37.6%) and 38th in scoring margin (9.2).
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-Notre Dame game will be televised on ESPN2 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 336-121 (.735) mark in 14 seasons at UVA and 405-153 (.729) 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 win 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 15 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 returned all five starters from last season’s team, which finished 21-14, 12-8 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 (11.7 ppg, 5.9 apg), Reece Beekman (9.7 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 5.0 apg), Jayden Gardner (11.3 ppg, 4.9 rpg), Armaan Franklin (12.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg) and Ben Vander Plas (7.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg) have started the past nine games.
• Isaac McKneely (6.6 ppg, 43.0% 3FG), Ryan Dunn (2.6 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.0 bpg), Kadin Shedrick (6.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.4 bpg), Francisco Caffaro (1.6 ppg, 1.7 rpg) and Taine Murray (1.5 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.
There’s No Place Like Home
• Virginia is 228-54 (.809), including a 12-1 mark in 2022-23, in 17 seasons at John Paul Jones Arena.
• UVA was 10-1 at JPJ in 2020-21 and is 190-38 (.834), including a 155-23 (.871) mark the past 11 seasons.
• UVA is an ACC-leading 84-13 (.866) in league home games over the past 11 seasons. Duke is second at 82-15 (.845).
• UVA has won 10+ home games for 13 straight seasons.
All-Time vs. Notre Dame
• Virginia is 16-3 all-time vs. Notre Dame, including an 11-1 ACC regular-season record, in the series that dates to 1980-81.
• UVA is 7-0 against the Irish in Charlottesville, including an 8–68 win in the last meeting at JPJ on Jan. 13, 2021.
• UVA has limited Notre Dame to 58 or fewer points in nine of the last 13 meetings.
• Head coach Tony Bennett is 12-2 all-time against Notre Dame, including a 61-41 win over the Fighting Irish as head coach at Washington State in the 2008 NCAA Tournament.
Last Time vs. The Fighting Irish
• Nate Laszewski and Dane Goodwin each had 16 points to lead Notre Dame to a 69-65 win over Virginia (12-9, 6-5 ACC) at Purcell Pavilion on Jan. 29, 2022.
• Jayden Gardner (22 points, 10 rebounds) and Francisco Caffaro (11 points, 12 rebounds) each registered double-doubles for the Cavaliers, whose six game-winning streak vs. the Irish ended.
• Notre Dame drilled 10 of 23 3-pointers and limited the Cavaliers to 3 of 14 from beyond the arc.
• The Irish shot 46.8 percent and remained unbeaten at home.
• Virginia won the rebound battle 39-26 and owned a 14-0 advantage in second chance points.
• Reece Beekman added 13 points and Kihei Clark added 12.
Player Notes
• Shooting guard Armaan Franklin (26, 25, 23, 21, 20, 20) leads Virginia with six 20-point games, while Jayden Gardner (26, 20), Kihei Clark (20) and Ben Vander Plas (20) have also registered 20-point efforts.
• Franklin has led UVA in scoring in 10 contests this season and reached 1,000 career points vs. Boston College.
• Franklin registered his first career double-double with 25 points and career-best 10 rebounds at Wake Forest.
• Gardner has a pair of double-doubles (12 points, 11 rebounds at Michigan and 20 points and 10 rebounds at Virginia Tech).
• Gardner scored his 2,000th point vs. NC Central and snared his 1,000th career rebound vs. Syracuse on Jan. 3.
• Gardner has registered double figures in scoring in six of the last eight games.
• Isaac McKneely has made at least one 3-pointer in 19 games and two or more 3-pointers in 13 contests.
• McKneely’s 11-game 3-pointer streak ended vs. Duke.
• Vander Plas recorded his first double-double at UVA (15th career) with 10 points and 11 rebounds at Louisville.
• Vander Plas has a two-game double-figure scoring streak, averaging 11.5 points and 7.5 rebounds.
• Beekman is shooting career bests from 3-point range (39.3%) and charity stripe (81.8%).
• Ryan Dunn has registered four games with three blocks.
Last Time Out
• Despite not making a field goal in the final 3:06 of game, No. 7 Virginia (20-4, 12-3 ACC) grinded out its sixth road win of the season after downing Louisville (3-23, 1-14 ACC), 61-58, at KFC Yum! Arena Wednesday night (Feb. 15).
• The Cavaliers put together a defensive stop on the Cardinals’ final possession after UVA led by as many as 10 points in the second half.
• Wednesday’s result solidified Virginia’s 11th 20-win season in the last 12 years under head coach Tony Bennett.
• Virginia was led by Kihei Clark, who finished with 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting and dished out six assists. With 10 points and 11 rebounds,
• Ben Vander Plas collected his first double-double in a UVA uniform with 10 points and 11 rebounds, while Armaan Franklin (14 points, 5-8 FG, 5 rebounds) and Jayden Gardner (10 points, 5-10 FG) also scored in double figures for the Hoos.
• El Ellis had 21 points for Louisville.
On The Horizon
• No. 7 Virginia travels to Boston College Wednesday, Feb. 22. Tipoff at Conte Forum is set for 7 p.m. on Regional Sports Networks.