Virginia Hosts No. 14 Texas A&M in Inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia (5-1) hosts No. 14 Texas A&M (6-1) in the inaugural ACC-SEC Challenge on Wednesday (Nov. 29). Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 7:15 p.m. on ESPN2 and Virginia Sports Radio Network.
For Openers
• UVA meets its first ranked opponent, sporting a 51-45 mark vs. ranked foes in the Tony Bennett era.
• The Cavaliers and Aggies meet for the second time and first since the 1962-63 season.
• Tony Bennett and Buzz Williams coached against each other during Williams’ five seasons at Virginia Tech from 2014-19.
• Bennett is 7-3 vs. Williams in head-to-head matchups (2-0 in 2014-15, 1-1 in 2015-16, 1-1 in 2016-17, 1-1 in 2017-18 and 2-0 in 2018-19).
• UVA is 170-51 (.769) in non-conference action under Tony Bennett.
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-Texas A&M 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 346-126 (.733) mark in 15 seasons at UVA and 415-159 (.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, 5.8 apg, 3.7 rpg & 2.8 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 46 steals to pass Othell Wilson (222 steals from 1981-84) for first all-time at UVA.
• Ryan Dunn (10.3 ppg) leads the team in rebounding (7.0 rpg), steals (2.8 spg) and blocked shots (2.5 bpg).
• Isaac McKneely (9.8 ppg) leads the team in 3-pointers (11) and 3-point percentage (55%).
• 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 (8.0 ppg) and Jordan Minor (2.0 ppg, 1.6 rpg), and redshirts Leon Bond III (7.7 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 61.8% FG) and Dante Harris (3.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg) and newcomer Blake Buchanan (5.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg) and veteran Taine Murray (3.2 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 44.5 percent from the field, 35.6 percent from 3-point range and 66.7 percent from the free throw line.
• UVA has committed just 50 turnovers and has 1.70 assist/turnover ratio.
All-Time vs. Texas A&M
• Virginia is 0-1 all-time vs. Texas A&M.
• Texas A&M is one of six SEC teams Tony Bennett has not faced (Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri and Mississippi are the others) in 18 seasons as a head coach.
• The Aggies defeated the Cavaliers in their sole matchup that took place in the 1962-63 season.
Last Time Out
• Virginia defeated West Virginia 56-54 in the Fort Myers Tip-Off consolation on Wednesday, Nov. 22.
• Reece Beekman (12 points, 5 assists, 4 steals) sank 1 of 2 free throws at 2.3 seconds left to give Virginia (5-1) a 55-54 lead.
• Ryan Dunn (13 points, 5 rebounds) added one free throw to make the final score 56-54.
• UVA shot 40.4 percent and limited WVU to 37.3 percent.
• UVA owned a 24-16 advantage in points in the paint.
Hoos in the National Rankings
• UVA ranks second nationally in scoring defense (53.8 ppg), seventh in field goal percentage defense (35.4), sixth in turnovers per game and blocks per game (6.3), 13th in turnover margin (6.3), 18th in assist/turnover ratio (1.70) and 20th in fouls per game (14.0).
Virginia Receives Votes in Latest AP Poll
• UVA received votes in the latest AP top-25 poll.
• UVA was ranked No. 24 in the Nov. 20 AP poll.
• The Hoos 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 Syracuse in its ACC opener on Saturday, Dec. 2. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for Noon on ESPN2.