No. 6 Concludes ACC Road Action at North Carolina Saturday
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 6 Virginia (21-5, 13-4 ACC) concludes ACC road action at North Carolina (17-11, 9-8 ACC) Saturday (Feb. 25). Tipoff at Smith Center is set for 6 p.m. on ESPN.
For Openers
• No. 6 Virginia (21-5) is tied for second in the ACC at 13-4, while North Carolina (17-11) is tied for seventh at 9-8.
• The Cavaliers own the ACC’s best league road record over the past 11 seasons at 67-34.
• UVA has have won five or more ACC games for seven consecutive seasons.
• Jayden Gardner (Wake Forest) and Kadin Shedrick (Holly Springs) 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 is 8-4 away from home, including a 6-4 true road record.
• UVA ranks first nationally in assist/turnover ratio (1.79), fourth in turnovers per game (8.9), ninth in scoring defense (60.1 ppg), 14th in fouls per game (14.0), 22nd in assists per game (15.9) and 23rd in turnover margin (3.6).
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-North Carolina game will be televised on ESPN 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 337-122 (.734) mark in 14 seasons at • UVA and 406-155 (.724) 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 (11.6 ppg, 5.7 apg), Reece Beekman (9.7 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 4.9 apg), Jayden Gardner (11.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg), Armaan Franklin (12.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg) and Ben Vander Plas (7.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg) have started the past 11 games.
• Isaac McKneely (6.5 ppg, 40.8% 3FG), Ryan Dunn (2.4 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.0 bpg), Kadin Shedrick (6.2 ppg, 3.5 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. North Carolina
• UVA is 61-133 all-time vs. North Carolina in the series that dates to 1910-11.
• The Cavaliers defeated the Tar Heels, 65-58, earlier this season at John Paul Jones Arena.
• Virginia is 9-67 all-time vs. the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, including a 4-4 mark in the Tony Bennett era.
• Bennett is 13-10 all-time vs. UNC, including a loss as head coach of Washington State in the 2008 NCAA Sweet 16.
Last Time vs. The Tar Heels
• Then-No. 13 Virginia used a 17-2 second-half run in its 65-58 win over North Carolina on Jan. 10 at John Paul Jones Arena.
• Ben Vander Plas (17 points, 8 rebounds), Reece Beekman (13 points, 5 assists), Armaan Franklin (12 points, 9 rebounds) and Isaac McKneely (11 points, 4-5 FG) all scored in double figures for the Hoos.
• UVA boasted eight blocked shots, including three each from Franklin and Vander Plas, and eight steals, five of which came at the hands of Beekman.
• North Carolina star Armando Bacot left the game with an ankle injury 1:19 into the contest.
• RJ Davis led the Tar Heels with 16 points.
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 led UVA in scoring in six contests and has reached double figures in scoring in seven of the last 10 games.
• Isaac McKneely has made at least one 3-pointer in 20 games and two or more 3-pointers in 14 contests.
• Vander Plas recorded his first double-double at UVA (15th career) with 10 points and 11 rebounds at Louisville.
• Reece Beekman is shooting career bests from 3-point range (38,1%) and charity stripe (81.4%).
• Ryan Dunn has registered five multi-block games, including four games with three blocks.
Last Time Out
• No. 6 Virginia (21-5, 13-4 ACC) had its four-game win streak snapped on the road Feb. 22 as the Cavaliers dropped a 63-48 decision to Boston College (14-15, 7-11 ACC) at Conte Forum.
• UVA shot 32 percent from the field, including 19 percent from 3-point range, while the Eagles shot 52 percent.
• The Cavaliers’ 48 points also marked a season low.
• Jayden Gardner led the effort for Virginia as he recorded 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting and added five rebounds and two blocked shots.
• Makai Ashton-Langford led BC with 16 points and Jaeden Zackery and DeMarr Langford Jr. each chipped in 12.
On The Horizon
• No. 6 Virginia hosts Clemson on Tuesday, Feb. 28. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 7 p.m. on ACC Network.