Virginia Welcomes Louisville to JPJ on Wednesday Night
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia (10-3, 1-1 ACC) hosts Louisville (5-7, 0-1 ACC) in ACC action on Wednesday (Jan. 3). Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN2 and Virginia Sports Radio Network.
For Openers
• Virginia (10-3, 1-1 ACC) has a seven-game winning streak against Louisville (5-7, 0-1 ACC).
• Reece Beekman has led the Cavaliers in scoring in each of the past four games, averaging 16.5 points during that span.
• UVA has suffered three 20-point losses (Wisconsin, Memphis and Notre Dame) in the same season for the first time since 2010-11 (Stanford, 81-60, No. 13 Washington, 106-60, Maryland, 66-42).
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-Louisville 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 351-128 (.733) mark in 15 seasons at UVA and 420-161 (.723) 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 (13.1 ppg, 5.5 apg, 3.4 rpg & 2.2 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 34 steals to pass Othell Wilson (222 steals from 1981-84) for first all-time at UVA.
• Ryan Dunn (9.3 ppg) leads the team in rebounding (6.7 rpg), and blocked shots (2.2 bpg).
• Isaac McKneely (10.8 ppg) leads the team in 3-pointers (30) and 3-point percentage (47.6%).
• 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 (8.0 ppg), Andrew Rohde (5.9 ppg & 3.3 apg), Leon Bond III (6.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 54.2% FG), Elijah Gertrude (5.4 ppg), Blake Buchanan (3.8 ppg, 3.2 rpg), Dante Harris (3.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg), Taine Murray (2.3 ppg, 35.7% 3FG) and Jordan Minor (1.8 ppg, 1.8 rpg) are main contributors.
• Harris has missed the last seven games with an ankle injury and Gertrude had his redshirt lifted against Texas A&M.
• UVA is shooting 45 percent from the field, 35.7 percent from 3-point range and 64.6 percent from the free throw line.
All-Time vs. Louisville
• Virginia is 22-5 all-time vs. Louisville in a series that dates to 1923-24.
• UVA has a seven-game win streak vs. Louisville, including a 75-60 win on Senior Day to close out the 2022-23 regular season.
• UVA has won 16 of the last 17 meetings.
• The Cavaliers are 10-1 vs. the Cardinals in Charlottesville, including an 8-0 mark at John Paul Jones Arena.
• UVA is 17-2 vs. Louisville since the Cardinals joined the ACC.
• Tony Bennett is 17-2 vs. Louisville as head coach at Virginia.
Last Time vs. the Cardinals
• Then-No. 13 Virginia posted a convincing 75-60 win over Louisville on March 4, 2023, 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.
Last Time Out
• Notre Dame defeated Virginia 76-54 on Dec. 30, 2023.
• Carey Booth and JR Konieczny each scored 17 points for the Irish, who shot 51 percent in the win and drilled 11 of 23 3-pointers.
• Notre Dame started the game on a 13-0 run and shot 69.6 percent (16 of 23) in the first half and owned a 41-24 lead.
• Reece Beekman led Virginia with 15 points and Ryan Dunn added 13.
Hoos in the National Rankings
• UVA ranks second nationally in scoring defense (56.0 ppg), third in turnovers per game (8.8), fifth in turnover margin (5.8), eighth in fouls per game (13.2), ninth in assist/turnover ratio (1.78), 13th in field goal percentage defense (37.8), 22nd in blocks per game (5.4).
Stock Up
• UVA has totaled 187 stocks (117 steals + 70 blocks).
• UVA is averaging a school-record 14.4 stocks per game (5.4 blocks and 9.0 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 56 stocks, ranking 28th nationally in blocks (2.2 bpg) and 49th in steals (2.2 spg).
• Dunn is the lone player in NCAA Division I ranked in the top 50 in both steals and blocks.
• Reece Beekman ranks 32nd in assist/turnover ratio (3.1) and 38th in steals (2.4 spg).
On The Horizon
• Virginia travels to NC State on Saturday, Jan. 6. Tipoff at PNC Arena is set for 2 p.m. on ACC Network.