Virginia Plays at Boston College Wednesday
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia (20-8, 11-6 ACC) travels to Boston College (15-12, 6-10 ACC) in ACC action on Wednesday (Feb. 28). Tipoff at Conte Forum is set for 9 p.m. on ESPNU and Virginia Sports Radio Network.
For Openers
• Virginia (20-8) is third in the ACC at 11-6, while Boston College (15-12) is 11th at 6-10.
• A win over Boston College will give the Cavaliers their third straight season with 21 or more wins and 12th under head coach Tony Bennett.
• UVA is 4-5 in true road games and 6-6 away from home overall.
• Six of Virginia’s eight losses have been away from home and by 16 or more points.
• Reece Beekman needs three steals to become UVA’s all-time leader.
• Jordan Minor is a native of Kingston, Mass.
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-Boston College game will be televised on ESPNU 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 361-133 mark in 15 seasons at UVA and 430-166 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 (13.8 ppg, 5.8 apg, 3.3 rpg & 2.1 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 three steals to pass Othell Wilson (222 steals from 1981-84) for first all-time at UVA.
• Ryan Dunn (8.4 ppg) leads UVA in rebounding (6.9 rpg), and blocked shots (2.4 bpg), and team-high five double-doubles.
• Isaac McKneely (12.2 ppg) leads the team in 3-pointers (64) and 3-point percentage (45.1%).
• 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 (4.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg), Jake Groves (7.2 ppg, 48.7% 3FG), Andrew Rohde (4.5 ppg & 2.9 apg), Blake Buchanan (3.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg), Dante Harris (2.6 ppg), Taine Murray (2.8 ppg, 46.2% 3FG), Leon Bond III (4.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg) and Elijah Gertrude (3.7 ppg), are main contributors.
• UVA is 9-4 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 averaging 63.4 points and shooting 43.8 percent from the field, 36.4 percent from 3-point range and 64.3 percent from the free throw line.
Uneven Road
• UVA is 4-5 in true road games and 6-6 away from home overall.
• Six of Virginia’s eight losses have been away from home and by 16 or more points.
• All eight of UVA’s losses have been by 10 or more points.
• Foes have averaged 72.5 points, shot 47.7 percent and +23 average margin of victory in UVA’s six losses away from home.
• UVA has averaged 49.5 points, while shooting 35.7 percent including 25.3 percent from 3-point range in the six away losses.
• UVA has yielded a +9.4 rebound margin to its foes in the six losses away from home (37.3-27.7).
Hoos in the National Rankings
• UVA ranks first nationally in assist/turnover ratio (1.83), second in turnovers per game (8.3), third in scoring defense (58.3 ppg), 10th in turnover margin (4.4) and field goal percentage defense (39.6), 14th in fouls per game (13.9) and 16th in blocks per game (5.2).
All-Time vs. Boston College
• Virginia is 19-9 all-time vs. Boston College, including a 14-9 ACC mark, in the series that dates to 1971-72.
• The Cavaliers’ four-game win streak against the Eagles ended last season after the 63-48 loss at Boston College on Feb. 22, 2023.
• UVA has won 12 of the last 15 games in the series.
• UVA is 5-6 against the Eagles in Chestnut Hill.
• UVA has limited Boston College to 58 or fewer points in eight of the last 11 meetings.
• Head coach Tony Bennett is 13-6 all-time against Boston College.
Last Time vs. the Eagles
• Then-No. 6 Virginia had its four-game win streak snapped on the road Feb. 22, 2023, as the Cavaliers dropped a 63-48 decision to Boston College at Conte Forum.
• UVA shot 32 percent from the field, including 19 percent from 3-point range, while the Eagles shot 52 percent.
• The Cavaliers’ 48 points also marked a season low.
• Jayden Gardner led the effort for Virginia as he recorded 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting and added five rebounds and two blocked shots.
• Makai Ashton-Langford led BC with 16 points and Jaeden Zackery and DeMarr Langford Jr. each chipped in 12.
Last Time Out
• Cormac Ryan scored 18 points to lead No. 10 North Carolina (21-6, 13-3 ACC) past Virginia (20-8, 11-6 ACC) in ACC action on Feb. 24 at John Paul Jones Arena.
• ACC leading scorer RJ Davis was limited to 10 points and Armando Bacot chipped in 10 points and 13 rebounds.
• Jordan Minor recorded his first double-double at UVA with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
• Reece Beekman added 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
• UVA scored fewer than 50 points for the third straight game for the first time since 2019-20.
• UVA’s 27.6 percent (16 of 58) field goal shooting was its lowest since 23.4 percent (11 of 47) vs. Wisconsin on Dec. 4, 2013.
On The Horizon
• Virginia plays at No. 10 Duke on Saturday, March 2. Tipoff at Cameron Indoor Stadium is 6 p.m. on ESPN.