No. 6 Virginia Plays at Boston College Wednesday
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 6 Virginia (21-4, 13-3 ACC) travels to Boston College (13-15, 7-10 ACC) for an ACC contest Wednesday (Feb. 22). Tipoff at Conte Forum is set for 7 p.m. on Regional Sports Networks.
For Openers
• No. 6 Virginia (21-4) is first in the ACC at 13-3, while Boston College (13-15) is 10th at 7-10.
• The Cavaliers own the ACC’s best league road record over the past 11 seasons at 67-33.
• UVA has have won five or more ACC games for seven consecutive seasons.
• UVA is 8-3 away from home, including a 6-3 true road record.
• UVA ranks first nationally in assist/turnover ratio (1.82), fourth in turnovers per game (8.9), 10th in scoring defense (60.1 ppg), 19th in assists per game (16.2) and fouls per game (14.2), 23rd in turnover margin (3.6), 40th in 3-point percentage (37.1%) and 41st in scoring margin (9.0).
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-Boston College game will be televised on Regional Sports Networks 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 337-121 (.736) mark in 14 seasons at UVA and 406-153 (.726) 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. 6 in Latest AP Poll
• UVA is ranked No. 6 in the latest AP national poll and has been ranked in the top-20 in all 16 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 (11.8 ppg, 5.8 apg), Reece Beekman (9.7 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 5.0 apg), Jayden Gardner (11.3 ppg, 4.9 rpg), Armaan Franklin (12.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg) and Ben Vander Plas (7.6 ppg, 4.7 rpg) have started the past 10 games.
• Isaac McKneely (6.5 ppg, 41.7% 3FG), Ryan Dunn (2.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg), Kadin Shedrick (6.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.3 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.
All-Time vs. Boston College
• Virginia is 19-8 all-time vs. Boston College, including a 14-8 ACC mark, in the series that dates to 1971-72.
• The Cavaliers have a four-game win streak against the Eagles, including a 76-57 win in Charlottesville this season.
• UVA has won 12 of the last 14 games in the series.
• UVA is 5-5 against the Eagles in Chestnut Hill.
• UVA has limited BC to 58 or fewer points in eight of the last 10 meetings.
• Head coach Tony Bennett is 13-5 all-time against Boston College.
Last Time vs. The Eagles
• Then-No. 7 Virginia outscored Boston College in both halves and cruised to a 76-57 win Jan. 28 at John Paul Jones Arena.
• The Cavaliers notched their sixth consecutive victory, marking the longest active win streak by an ACC team at the time.
• Despite shooting 29 percent from 3-point range, Virginia managed to shoot 51 percent from the field.
• Jayden Gardner and Armaan Franklin led the Cavaliers with 18 points apiece. Isaac McKneely (12 points) and Reece Beekman (11 points, 8 assists) also scored in double figures.
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 nine games, and grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds vs. Notre Dame.
• Isaac McKneely has made at least one 3-pointer in 19 games and two or more 3-pointers in 13 contests.
• Vander Plas recorded his first double-double at UVA (15th career) with 10 points and 11 rebounds at Louisville.
• Beekman is shooting career bests from 3-point range (39.3%) and charity stripe (80.9%).
• Ryan Dunn has registered four games with three blocks.
Last Time Out
• Notre Dame (10-17, 2-14 ACC) missed a potential game-winning 3-point try at the buzzer as then-No. 7 Virginia (21-4, 13-3 ACC) held on to defeat the Fighting Irish, 57-55, at John Paul Jones Arena Feb. 18.
• With his 133rd career start and after dishing out his third assist of the game, Kihei Clark (15 points, 4-7 FG, 6-8 FT) became UVA’s all-time leader in both categories.
• Armaan Franklin (12 points, 4 rebounds) and Reece Beekman (11 points, 5 assists) also scored in double figures for the Hoos.
• Jayden Gardner and Ben Vander Plas added eight points each, and Gardner’s 12 rebounds were a game high.
• Nate Laszewski led the Irish with 18 points and eight rebounds.
On The Horizon
• No. 6 Virginia travels to North Carolina on Saturday, Feb. 28. Tipoff at Smith Center is set for 6 p.m. on ESPN.