No. 24 Virginia Battles West Virginia in Fort Myers Tip-Off Consolation Wednesday
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 24 Virginia (4-1) plays West Virginia (2-2) in the consolation game of the Fort Myers Tio-Off on Wednesday (Nov. 22). Tipoff at Suncoast Credit Union Arena is set for 6 p.m. on FS1.
For Openers
• UVA and West Virginia square off for the first time since 2017.
• UVA is 169-51 (.768) in non-conference action under Tony Bennett.
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-West Virginia game will be televised on FS1 and streamed online at foxsports.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 345-126 (.732) mark in 15 seasons at UVA and 414-159 (.723) career mark in 18 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 11th consecutive postseason berth in 2022-23.
Hoo Are These Cavaliers?
• We play defense, take quality shots, pass the basketball, limit turnovers and transition points, rebound and play more defense.
• UVA returns one starter – Reece Beekman (11.8 ppg, 6.0 apg, 3.6 rpg & 2.6 spg) – from last season’s ACC regular-season champion and NCAA tournament team that finished 25-8.
Beekman, who earned All-ACC third-team honors last season, needs 50 steals to pass Othell Wilson (222 steals from 1981-84) for first all-time at UVA.
• Ryan Dunn (9.8 ppg) leads the team in rebounding (7.4 rpg), steals (3 spg) and blocked shots (2.8 bpg).
• Isaac McKneely (10.3 ppg, 60% 3FG) had nine points vs. Wisconsin after missing the Texas Southern game with an ankle injury.
• McKneely averaged 6.7 points and shot a team-best 39.2 percent from 3-point range last year, while Dunn tallied 2.6 points and 2.9 rebounds in 12.9 minutes per game.
• Transfers Andrew Rohde (6.0 ppg), Jake Groves (8.6 ppg) and Jordan Minor (2.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg), and redshirts Leon Bond III (7.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 65.4% FG) and Dante Harris (4.2 ppg, 2.6 rpg) and newcomer Blake Buchanan (6.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg) and veteran Taine Murray (4.0 ppg, 40% 3FG) are main contributors.
• Elijah Gertrude, Anthony Robinson and Christian Bliss will redshirt the season, while recruited walk-ons Desmond Roberts and Tristan How round out the roster.
• UVA is shooting 45.3 percent from the field, 38.6 percent from 3-point range and 67.3 percent from the free throw line.
• UVA has committed just 41 turnovers and has 1.83 assist/turnover ratio.
All-Time vs. West Virginia
• Virginia is 9-10 all-time vs. the Mountaineers in the series that dates to the 1915-16 season.
• Virginia head coach Tony Bennett holds a 1-2 record against the Mountaineers.
• The Mountaineers defeated the Cavaliers in their last two matchups, taking down the Cavaliers 68-61 in 2017 and 66-57 in 2016.
• The Cavaliers defeated the Mountaineers 70-54 at the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y. on Dec. 8, 2015.
• The Cavaliers are 3-2 in their last five games vs. West Virginia and 6-4 in their last 10.
• After the Cavaliers and Mountaineers met for three consecutive seasons from 2015 to 2017, this is the first matchup between the teams in six seasons.
Last Time vs. the Mountaineers
• West Virginia defeated Virginia 68-61 on Dec. 5, 2017, in Morgantown.
• Mountaineer guard Jevon Carter recorded 23 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and two steals in 40 minutes.
• Devon Hall posted a team-high 19 points along with six rebounds for UVA.
• Kyle Guy added 18 points on six 3-pointers.
• The Mountaineers’ 68 points were the most allowed by Virginia throughout the 2017-18 regular season.
Last Time Out
• Wisconsin defeated No. 24 Virginia 65-41 at the Fort Myers Tip-Off on Monday, Nov. 20.
• Steven Crowl had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Tyler Wahl added nine points and 10 rebounds to lead the Badgers (3-2).
• Reece Beekman led the Hoos (4-1) with 17 points and seven assists.
• UVA shot 32.6 percent (15 of 46), including 23.6 percent (5 of 21) in the first half in the loss.
• Wisconsin owned a decisive 48-21 rebounding advantage.
Hoos in the National Rankings
• UVA ranks fifth nationally in scoring defense (53.8 ppg), seventh in blocks per game (7.0) and turnovers per game (8.2), 15th in field goal percentage defense (35.0), 21st in assist/turnover ratio (1.83), 24th in turnover margin (6.2) and 25th in fouls per game (13.8).
Virginia Ranked No. 24 in Latest AP Poll
• UVA is ranked No. 24 in the latest AP top-25 poll.
• UVA earned votes in the preseason top-25 poll.
• UVA was not ranked in the AP preseason top-25 poll for the first time since 2017-18 when it received votes.
• Prior to this year, UVA was ranked in the preseason AP top-25 five consecutive seasons and nine of the last 10 seasons under Tony Bennett.
On The Horizon
• Virginia hosts Texas A&M in the ACC/SEC Challenge on Wednesday, Nov. 29. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 7:15 p.m. on ESPN2.