Virginia Concludes Non-Conference Action Against Morgan State
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia (9-2) concludes non-conference action against Morgan State (4-10) on Wednesday (Dec. 27). Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 7 p.m. ET on ACC Network and Virginia Sports Radio Network.
For Openers
• UVA is 8-1 in non-conference action, including a 6-0 record at John Paul Jones Arena.
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-Morgan State game will be televised on ACC Network 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 350-127 (.734) mark in 15 seasons at UVA and 419-160 (.724) career mark in 18 seasons as a head coach.
• Bennett passed the late 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, 5.6 apg, 3.5 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 35 steals to pass Othell Wilson (222 steals from 1981-84) for first all-time at UVA.
• Ryan Dunn (9.1 ppg) leads the team in rebounding (6.5 rpg), and blocked shots (2.5 bpg).
Isaac McKneely (11.7 ppg) leads the team in 3-pointers (27) and 3-point percentage (50%).
• 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 (8.2 ppg), Andrew Rohde (5.6 ppg & 3.5 apg), Leon Bond III (7.1 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 58.3% FG), Elijah Gertrude (5.6 ppg), Blake Buchanan (4.5 ppg, 3.2 rpg), Dante Harris (3.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg), Taine Murray (2.3 ppg, 40% 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 45.4 percent from the field, 35.8 percent from 3-point range and 66.7 percent from the free throw line.
All-Time vs. Morgan State
• Virginia is 4-0 all-time against Morgan State in a series that dates to 2006.
• The Cavaliers have scored 83 or more points in each of the four contests, averaging 84.3 points in the series.
• UVA has limited the Bears to 48 or fewer points in the past two contests, including 45 in the last meeting between the teams on Dec. 3, 2018 (83-45 UVA win).
• UVA head coach Tony Bennett is 3-0 all-time vs. Morgan State.
Last Time Out
• Then-No. 22 Memphis scored 27 points off Virginia’s season-high 18 turnovers in a 77-54 win on Dec. 19 at FedExForum.
• David Jones scored a game-high 26 points for the Tigers (9-2), who recorded their second straight win against the ACC.
• Reece Beekman led the Cavaliers (9-2) with 13 points and Ryan Dunn added 11 points and 11 rebounds.
• Virginia shot 39.3 percent in the loss, including a 9 of 30 effort in the second stanza.
• Jake Groves added 12 points for UVA, converting two of UVA’s four 3-pointers (19 attempts).
Hoos in the National Rankings
• UVA ranks second nationally in scoring defense (55.3 ppg), fourth in turnovers per game (8.9), sixth in field goal percentage defense (36.9), ninth in assist/turnover ratio (1.74), 11th in turnover margin (5.3), 15th in blocks per game (5.6) and 16th in 3-point percentage defense (27.4) and fouls per game (13.7).
Stock Up
• UVA has totaled 158 stocks (96 steals + 62 blocks).
• UVA is averaging a school-record 14.4 stocks per game (5.7 blocks and 8.7 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 52 stocks, ranking 12th nationally in blocks (2.5 bpg) and 34th 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 2.6 per game assist/turnover ratio at 3.6.
Virginia Receives Votes in Latest AP Poll
• UVA received votes in the latest AP top-25 poll.
• The Cavaliers were ranked No. 22 from Dec. 11-24.
• UVA was ranked No. 24 in the Nov. 20 AP poll.
• UVA was not ranked in the AP preseason top-25 poll for the first time since 2017-18 when it received votes.
On The Horizon
• Virginia returns to ACC action at Notre Dame on Saturday, Dec. 30. Tipoff at Purcell Pavilion is set for Noon on ACC Network.