No. 2 Seed UVA Plays No. 7 Seed UNC in ACC Quarterfinal Thursday
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 2 seed Virginia (23-6) plays No. 7 seed North Carolina (20-12) in ACC quarterfinal action Thursday (March 9). Tipoff at Greensboro Coliseum is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN or ESPN2.
For Openers
• UVA seeks its fourth ACC Tournament title and first since 2018.
• UVA earned a share of its 11th ACC regular-season title.
• Reece Beekman was named ACC Defensive Player of the Year, All-ACC Third Team and All-Defensive Team.
• Kihei Clark was named All-ACC Third Team and All-Defensive Team.
• Jayden Gardner earned All-ACC honorable mention honors.
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-North Carolina game will be televised on ESPN or 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.
UVA All-Time in The ACC Tournament
• Virginia is the No. 2 seed for the ACC Tournament for the fifth time in school history and second under head coach Tony Bennett (2016 & 2023).
• The Cavaliers are 44-64 all-time in the ACC Tournament and 18-24 in Greensboro, including the 2014 tournament title.
• UVA captured ACC Tournament titles as the No. 6 seed in 1976, No. 1 seed in 2014 and No. 1 seed in 2018.
• UVA has posted a 6-4 mark as the No. 2 seed in tournament.
• UVA is 26-37 in the ACC quarterfinals.
• UVA has advanced to the ACC Tournament semifinals in six of the last eight ACC tournaments.
• Bennett is 13-9 all-time in the ACC Tournament.
The Head Coach
• Dean and Markel Families Head Men’s Basketball Coach Tony Bennett has a 339-123 (.734) mark in 14 seasons at UVA and 408-156 (.723) career mark in 17 seasons as a head coach.
• Bennett passed Terry Holland (326-173, 16 seasons) as UVA’s all-time winningest coach 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 six ACC regular-season titles (2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023), 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. 13 in Latest AP Poll
• UVA is ranked No. 13 in the latest AP national poll and has been ranked in the top-20 in all 18 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 (11.1 ppg, 5.7 apg), Reece Beekman (9.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 5.3 apg), Jayden Gardner (11.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg), Armaan Franklin (12.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg) and Ben Vander Plas (7.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg) have started the past 14 games.
• Isaac McKneely (6.6 ppg, 39.3% 3FG), Ryan Dunn (2.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.0 bpg), Kadin Shedrick (6.0 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.2 bpg), Francisco Caffaro (1.9 ppg, 1.7 rpg) and Taine Murray (1.2 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 61-134 all-time vs. North Carolina in the series that dates to 1910-11.
• UVA split two-games with UNC this season, posting a 65-58 win in Charlottesville and 71-63 loss in Chapel Hill.
• Virginia is 4-14 all-time vs. the Tar Heels in the ACC Tournament, including a 0-6 mark in Greensboro.
• Head coach Tony Bennett is 13-11 all-time vs. UNC, including a loss as head coach of Washington State in the 2008 NCAA Sweet 16.
Player Notes
• 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 12 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 three double-doubles (12 points, 11 rebounds at Michigan, 20 points and 10 rebounds at Virginia Tech and 19 points and 12 rebounds at North Carolina).
• 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 nine contests and has reached double figures in scoring in 10 of the last 13 games.
• Isaac McKneely tied his ACC high with 12 points against Clemson.
• McKneely has made at least one 3-pointer in 22 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 has 25 assists and one turnover in his past three games. Beekman is shooting career bests from 3-point range (40.4%) and charity stripe (79.2%).
• Ryan Dunn reached double figures for the second time with 10 points against Clemson.
• Dunn has registered five multi-block games, including four games with three blocks.
Last Time Out
• No. 13 Virginia (23-6, 15-5 ACC) posted a convincing 75-60 win over Louisville (4-27, 2-18 ACC) on March 4 to earn a share of the program’s 11th ACC regular-season title.
• Francisco Caffaro, Chase Coleman, Armaan Franklin, Jayden Gardner and Ben Vander Plas were honored on Senior Day.
• Franklin and Gardner each scored 16 points, Reece Beekman matched a career-high with 11 assists) and Ryan Dunn added nine points for the Hoos in their 15th ACC victory of the season.
• Virginia shot a season-high 58 percent from the field and converted 11 of 14 free throws.
• UVA has won seven straight games vs. Louisville.
• Mike James led the Cardinals with a game-high 24 points.
On The Horizon
• The winner of the Virginia/North Carolina ACC quarterfinal contest advances to the semifinals on Friday, March 10. Tipoff at Greensboro Coliseum is set for 9:30 p.m. on ESPN.