Hoos Ready for White Out Game vs. Miami
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia (17-5, 8-3 ACC) hosts Miami (15-7, 6-5 ACC) in ACC action on Monday (Feb. 5). Tipoff for the White Out at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN and Virginia Sports Radio Network.
For Openers
• Virginia (17-5) is second in the ACC at 8-3, while Miami (15-7) is seventh at 6-5.
• UVA is on an ACC-high six-game win streak and owns the nation’s longest home winning streak at 22 games.
• UVA has held 47 straight ACC opponents to fewer than 70 points at John Paul Jones Arena.
• Reece Beekman became the 51st Cavalier to reach 1,000 career points with 14 at Clemson.
• Miami head coach Jim Larrañaga served as an assistant to Terry Holland at UVA from 1979-86.
• Miami associate head coach Bill Courtney served as an assistant at UVA from 2006-09.
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-Miami game will be televised on ESPN 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 358-130 mark in 15 seasons at UVA and 427-163 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, 6.1 apg, 2.9 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 eight steals to pass Othell Wilson (222 steals from 1981-84) for first all-time at UVA.
• Ryan Dunn (9.5 ppg) leads UVA in rebounding (7.3 rpg), and blocked shots (2.2 bpg), and team-high five double-doubles.
• Isaac McKneely (11.7 ppg) leads the team in 3-pointers (53) and 3-point percentage (46.9%).
• 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 (4.5 ppg, 3.2 rpg), Jake Groves (7.8 ppg, 50% 3FG), Andrew Rohde (4.9 ppg & 2.9 apg), Blake Buchanan (3.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg), Dante Harris (2.8 ppg), Taine Murray (3.0 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 seven games, averaging 9.1 points and 5.7 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, 37.1 percent from 3-point range and 65.2 percent from the free throw line.
Hoos in the National Rankings
• UVA ranks second nationally in scoring defense (57.7 ppg) and turnovers per game (8.6), fifth in assist/turnover ratio (1.81), sixth in fouls per game (13.5), ninth in turnover margin (4.9), 11th in field goal percentage defense (39.4), 33rd in blocks per game (4.9) and 38th in 3-point percentage (37.1).
All-Time vs. Miami
• Virginia is 15-13 all-time vs. Miami in the series that dates to 1965-66.
• UVA has a three-game win streak against Miami at John Paul Jones Arena.
• UVA is 9-4, including a 7-2 mark at JPJ, against the Hurricanes in Charlottesville.
• Fourteen of the last 16 meetings between the teams have been decided by 10 points or less.
• UVA has limited Miami to 58 or fewer points in six of the last eight meetings.
• Head coach Tony Bennett is 12-7 all-time against Miami.
Last Time vs. the Hurricanes
• Isaiah Wong scored 24 points to lead then-No. 22 Miami to a 66-64 win over then-No. 6 Virginia at Watsco Center on Dec. 20, 2022.
• Virginia rallied from a 15-point deficit with a 16-2 run to make it 43-42 Miami, and three Kihei Clark free throws late in the second stanza cut the Miami advantage to 65-64.
• Ben Vander Plas scored a season-high 20 points to lead the Cavaliers and Clark added 13.
• Reece Beekman recorded 10 points, nine rebounds and nine assists for the Cavaliers.
Last Time Out
• Jake Groves scored 17 points and Reece Beekman and Isaac McKneely each added 14 points as Virginia held off Clemson 66-65 in ACC action at Littlejohn Coliseum on Feb. 3.
• McKneely’s four-point play gave UVA a 64-59 advantage and after a rebound basket by Ryan Dunn, a long 3-point attempt by Clemson reserve Jack Clark was off the mark at the buzzer.
• PJ Hall led the Tigers with 19 points and Joseph Girard III added 14 and Ian Schieffelin chipped in 13 points and nine rebounds.
• UVA scored 30 points in the paint and out-scored Clemson’s bench 21-5.
On The Horizon
• Virginia travels to Florida State for an ACC contest on Feb. 10. Tipoff at Donald L. Tucker Center is set for 8 p.m. on The CW.