Virginia Hosts No. 10 North Carolina Saturday Afternoon at JPJ
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia (20-7, 11-5 ACC) hosts No. 10 North Carolina (20-6, 12-3 ACC) in ACC action on Saturday (Feb. 24). Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 4 p.m. on ESPN and Virginia Sports Radio Network.
For Openers
• Virginia (20-7) is third in the ACC at 11-5, while No. 10 North Carolina (20-6) is tied for first at 12-3.
• UVA has an eight-game home win streak vs. North Carolina.
• UVA meets its first top-10 foe of the season and is 1-1 vs. ranked opponents in 2023-24.
• UVA is 14-1 at John Paul Jones Arena.
• A win over North Carolina will give the Cavaliers their third straight 21-win season and 12th under head coach Tony Bennett.
• UVA has won 11 ACC games for 12 straight seasons.
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-North Carolina 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 361-132 mark in 15 seasons at UVA and 430-165 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 (13.9 ppg, 5.8 apg, 3.2 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 four steals to pass Othell Wilson (222 steals from 1981-84) for first all-time at UVA.
• Ryan Dunn (8.6 ppg) leads UVA in rebounding (7.0 rpg), and blocked shots (2.3 bpg), and team-high five double-doubles.
• Isaac McKneely (12.4 ppg) leads the team in 3-pointers (63) and 3-point percentage (46%).
• 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 (4.1 ppg, 2.8 rpg), Jake Groves (7.5 ppg, 49.4% 3FG), Andrew Rohde (4.6 ppg & 3.0 apg), Blake Buchanan (3.7 ppg, 3.4 rpg), Dante Harris (2.6 ppg),
• Taine Murray (2.9 ppg, 46.2% 3FG), Leon Bond III (4.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg) and Elijah Gertrude (3.5 ppg), are main contributors.
• UVA is 9-3 with Minor in the starting lineup.
• 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 percent from 3-point range and 64.2 percent from the free throw line.
Hoos in the National Rankings
• UVA ranks first nationally in assist/turnover ratio (1.85), second in turnovers per game (8.4), third in scoring defense (58.5 ppg), 10th in fouls per game (13.8) and turnover margin (4.4), 15th in field goal percentage defense (39.6), 18th in blocks per game (5.1) and 32nd in 3-point percentage (37.0).
All-Time vs. North Carolina
• UVA is 62-134 all-time vs. North Carolina in the series that dates to 1910-11.
• The Cavaliers went 2-1 vs. the Tar Heels last season, posting wins at home (65-58) and at the ACC Tournament (68-58) in Greensboro.
• UNC defeated the Cavaliers 71-63 at Smith Center.
• Virginia is 38-44 all-time vs. the Tar Heels in Charlottesville, including an 8-4 mark at JPJ.
• Bennett is 14-11 all-time vs. UNC, including a loss as head coach of Washington State in the 2008 NCAA Sweet 16.
Last Time vs. the Tar Heels
• No. 2 seed UVA (24-6) defeated No. 7 seed UNC (19-13) 68-59 win in ACC Tournament quarterfinal action March 9, 2023.
• Virginia shot 49 percent from the field, including 58 in the second half, and scored 28 points in the paint.
• UNC shot just 36 percent and only knocked down eight of its 27 attempts from behind the arc.
• Jayden Gardner (17 points, 10 rebounds), Reece Beekman (15 points, 5 assists, 5 steals) and Armaan Franklin (14 points, 6-13 FG) all scored in double figures for the Hoos.
• RJ Davis had a game-high 24 points for North Carolina.
Last Time Out
• Virginia Tech (15-11, 7-8 ACC) used a 20-0 first-half run en route to a 75-41 win over Virginia (20-7, 11-5 ACC) on Feb. 19 at Cassell Coliseum.
• Lynn Kidd led four Hokies in double figures with 14 points.
• Isaac McKneely led UVA with 11 points.
• Virginia Tech shot 50.9 percent (27 of 53) and out-rebounded UVA 32-28.
• The 34-point loss was UVA’s largest vs. Virginia Tech since a 35-point loss on Feb. 18, 1961 (105-70).
• The 34-point loss was UVA’s largest since a 35-point loss at Tennessee on Dec. 30, 2013 (87-52).
On The Horizon
• Virginia travels to Boston College for an ACC contest on Wednesday, Feb. 28. Tipoff at Conte Forum is 9 p.m. on ESPNU.