No. 22 Virginia Plays at No. 23 Memphis Tuesday
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 22 Virginia (9-1) continues non-conference action at Memphis (8-2) on Tuesday (Dec. 19). Tipoff at FedExForum is set for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and Virginia Sports Radio Network.
For Openers
• Tony Bennett and Penny Hardaway are two of 26 current NCAA Division I head coaches that played in the NBA.
• Virginia and Memphis share two common opponents – Texas A&M and Clemson.
• Virginia and Memphis posted wins vs. Texas A&M.
• Memphis defeated Clemson 79-77 on Dec. 16, while UVA plays at Clemson on Feb. 3.
• Virginia has a five-game winning streak and ranks second in the nation in scoring defense at 53.3 points per game.
• UVA is 8-1 in non-conference action and plays its first true road game of the season.
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-Memphis 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 350-126 (.735) mark in 15 seasons at UVA and 419-159 (.725) 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.
• In 2018-19, Bennett led the Cavaliers to their first NCAA national championship, a share of their ninth ACC regular-season title and a school-record 35 wins.
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 (12.5 ppg, 5.7 apg, 3.3 rpg & 2.7 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 36 steals to pass Othell Wilson (222 steals from 1981-84) for first all-time at UVA.
• Ryan Dunn (8.9 ppg) leads the team in rebounding (6.1 rpg), and blocked shots (2.5 bpg).
• Isaac McKneely (12.3 ppg) leads the team in scoring, 3-pointers (27) and 3-point percentage (55.1%).
• 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.
• Jake Groves (7.8 ppg), Andrew Rohde (6.2 ppg & 3.4 apg), Leon Bond III (7.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 58.2% FG), Elijah Gertrude (6.0 ppg), Blake Buchanan (5.0 ppg, 3.3 rpg), Dante Harris (3.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg), Taine Murray (2.6 ppg, 50% 3FG) and Jordan Minor (1.3 ppg, 1.8 rpg) are main contributors.
• Gertrude had his redshirt lifted against Texas A&M.
• UVA is shooting 46 percent from the field, 37.4 percent from 3-point range and 67.1 percent from the free throw line.
• UVA has committed just 80 turnovers and has 1.96 assist/turnover ratio.
All-Time vs. Memphis
• Virginia is 1-0 all-time against Memphis in a series that dates to 2014
• The Cavaliers defeated the Tigers 78-60 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on March 23, 2014, at PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C.
• The win gave Virginia its first NCAA Sweet 16 berth since 1995 when the Cavaliers advanced to the Elite Eight.
• Joe Harris scored 16 points to lead five Cavaliers in double figures in the win over Memphis.
• Anthony Gill added 13 points and eight rebounds as UVA shot 55.6 percent in the win.
• Mike Tobey chipped in 11 points and Malcolm Brogdon and Justin Anderson each scored 10 points.
• Austin Nichols led Memphis with 15 points and Geron Johnson added 11.
• UVA out-rebounded Memphis 40-28.
Last Time Out
• Reese Beekman converted a driving layup to lift No. 22 Virginia past Northeastern, 56-54, on Dec. 16 at John Paul Jones Arena.
• Beekman’s 21 points (9-of-18 shooting) led all scorers and marked a new career-high, edging out his previous career-best of 20 points against Clemson on Dec. 22, 2021.
• UVA trailed 30-24 at the half, but rallied with a spirited comeback led by Beekman, who added six rebounds, five assists and two steals in the win.
• Jake Groves added eight points and Leon Bond III chipped in six points as UVA improved to 9-1.
• UVA had 19 points off turnovers and committed five turnovers.
• Joe Pridgen led Northeastern with 11 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
Hoos in the National Rankings
• UVA ranks second nationally in scoring defense (53.3 ppg) and turnovers per game (8.0), fourth in field goal percentage defense (35.9), fifth in assist/turnover ratio (1.96) and turnover margin (6.4), seventh in 3-point percentage defense (26.1) and 12th in blocks per game (6.0) and fouls per game (13.5).
Stock Up
• UVA has totaled 148 stocks (88 steals + 60 blocks).
• UVA is averaging a school-record 14.8 stocks per game (6.0 blocks and 8.8 steals) since 1976 when steals and blocks were first recorded at Virginia and 1985-86 when recognized by the NCAA.
• The school-record for stocks in a season is 13.8 in 1998-99.
• UVA could break school records for blocks (5.5 bpg in 1979-80) and steals (8.8 spg in 1999-2000).
• UVA averaged 11.1 stocks per game last season (6.8 steals + 4.3 blocks).
• Ryan Dunn leads UVA with 48 stocks, ranking 10th nationally in blocks (2.5 bpg) and 33rd in steals (2.3 spg).
• Dunn is the lone player in NCAA Division I ranked in the top 35 in both steals and blocks.
• Reece Beekman ranks 13th in steals at 2.7 per game.
• Beekman also ranks fourth in assist/turnover ratio at 4.8.
Virginia Ranked No. 22 in Latest AP Poll
• UVA is ranked No. 22 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 and each of the other three polls.
• 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 closes out non-conference action against Morgan State on Wednesday, Dec. 27. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 7 p.m. on ACC Network.