Road Battle at Clemson Next for Virginia
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia (16-5, 7-3 ACC) plays at Clemson (14-6, 4-5 ACC) in ACC action on Saturday (Feb. 3). Tipoff at Littlejohn Coliseum is set for 2 p.m. on ESPN and Virginia Sports Radio Network.
For Openers
• Virginia (16-5) is third in the ACC at 7-3, while Clemson (14-6) is 10th at 4-5.
• UVA is on a five-game win streak and has an six-game road win streak vs. Clemson, including a 75-65 win in its last trip to Clemson on Jan. 4, 2022.
• UVA is 2-4 in true road games and has suffered all five of its losses away from JPJ by 16 or more points
• Reece Beekman needs 12 points to reach 1,000 career points.
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-Clemson game will be televised on ESPN2 and streamed on 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 357-130 mark in 15 seasons at UVA and 426-163 career mark in 18 seasons as a head coach.
• Bennett passed the late Terry Holland (326-173, 16 seasons) as UVA’s winningest coach with the win over Syracuse (1/7/23) and recorded his 400th 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 (13.3 ppg, 6.2 apg, 3.0 rpg & 2.5 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 11 steals to pass Othell Wilson (222 steals from 1981-84) for first all-time at UVA.
• Ryan Dunn (9.7 ppg) leads UVA in rebounding (7.1 rpg), and blocked shots (2.2 bpg), and team-high five double-doubles.
• Isaac McKneely (11.6 ppg) leads the team in 3-pointers (52) and 3-point percentage (48.1%).
• 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.
• Jordan Minor (4.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg), Jake Groves (7.3 ppg, 48.4% 3FG), Andrew Rohde (5.0 ppg & 3.0 apg), Blake Buchanan (3.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg), Dante Harris (3.1 ppg), Taine Murray (3.1 ppg, 43.5% 3FG), Leon Bond III (4.8 ppg, 3.2 rpg) and Elijah Gertrude (3.6 ppg), are main contributors.
• Minor has started the past six games, averaging 9.2 points and 5.2 rebounds during that span.
• Harris missed 10 games with an ankle injury, and Gertrude had his redshirt lifted against Texas A&M.
• UVA is shooting 44.5 percent from the field, 37.2 percent from 3-point range and 65 percent from the free throw line.
Hoos in the National Rankings
• UVA ranks second nationally in scoring defense (57.3 ppg), third in turnovers per game (8.8), fifth in fouls per game (13.3), sixth in assist/turnover ratio (1.82), seventh in turnover margin (5.2), 16th in field goal percentage defense (39.5), 32nd in blocks per game (5.0), 38th in 3-point percentage (37.2) and 48th in steals per game (8.4).
All-Time vs. Clemson
• Virginia is 82-53 all-time vs. Clemson, including a 27-35 road record, in a series that dates to 1935-36.
• UVA has a three-game win streak vs. Clemson, including a pair of wins last season.
• UVA has a six-game road win streak vs. the Tigers, including a win in Greenville, S.C.
• UVA has won 14 of the last 15 meetings in the series.
• UVA is 16-3 in its last 19 meetings against the Tigers.
• Head coach Tony Bennett is 16-4 all-time vs. Clemson.
Last Time vs. the Tigers
• Then-No. 2 seed Virginia (25-6) defeated No. 3 seed Clemson 76-56 in the 2023 ACC Tournament semifinals on March 10 at Greensboro Coliseum.
• Jayden Gardner registered his second straight double-double with 23 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Cavaliers to their 10th ACC Tournament final.
• Armaan Franklin added 16 points and Kihei Clark chipped in 13 points.
• Hunter Tyson led the Tigers with 15 points and PJ Hall added 13 points.
Last Time Out
• Jake Groves scored a season-high 18 points to lift Virginia to a 65-53 home win over Notre Dame on Jan. 31.
• Groves drilled a career-high six 3-pointers, including five in the first half as the Cavaliers built a 38-23 halftime lead.
• Reece Beekman tied a career high with 21 points and added six assists and four steals in UVA’s fifth-straight win.
• UVA sank a season-high 13 3-pointers (25 attempts) in the win, including a career-best four from Beekman.
• Markus Burton led Notre Dame with 17 points and Braeden Shrewsberry added 16.
On The Horizon
• Virginia hosts Miami in ACC action on Feb. 5. Tipoff for the Big Monday clash and White Out at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN.