No. 3 Seed Virginia Plays No. 11 Seed Boston College at ACC Tournament
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 3 seed Virginia (22-9) will play No. 11 seed Boston College (19-14) in the quarterfinals of the 2024 ACC Tournament on Thursday, March 14. Tipoff at Capital One Arena is set for 9:30 p.m. on ESPN or ESPN2.
For Openers
• Reece Beekman was named ACC Defensive Player of the Year, All-ACC Second Team and All-Defensive.
• Ryan Dunn was named All-ACC Honorable Mention and All-Defensive.
• Tony Bennett will coach his 600th career game on March 14.
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-Boston College 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 363-134 mark in 15 seasons at UVA and 432-167 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.
UVA All-Time in the ACC Tournament
• Virginia is the No. 3 seed for the ACC Tournament for the fifth time (1972, 1979, 1989 and 2000).
• UVA has posted a 2-4 mark as the No. 3 seed in tournament.
• The Cavaliers are 46-65 all-time in the ACC Tournament and 3-2 in Washington, D.C., reaching the title game in 2016.
• UVA captured ACC Tournament titles as the No. 6 seed in 1976, No. 1 seed in 2014 and No. 1 seed in 2018.
• UVA is 27-37 in the ACC quarterfinals.
• UVA has advanced to the ACC Tournament semifinals in seven of the last nine ACC tournaments.
• Bennett is 15-10 all-time in the ACC Tournament.
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 (14.3 ppg, 6.0 apg, 3.5 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, recorded three steals at Duke to pass Othell Wilson (222 steals from 1981-84) for first all-time at UVA.
• Ryan Dunn (8.2 ppg) leads UVA in rebounding (6.9 rpg), blocked shots (2.4 bpg) and double-doubles (5).
• Isaac McKneely (12.4 ppg) leads the team in 3-pointers (73) and 3-point percentage (45.3%).
• 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 (4.2 ppg, 2.9 rpg), Jake Groves (7.4 ppg, 47.9% 3FG), Andrew Rohde (4.4 ppg & 2.8 apg), Blake Buchanan (3.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg), Dante Harris (2.5 ppg), Taine Murray (3.0 ppg, 45.5% 3FG), Leon Bond III (4.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg) and Elijah Gertrude (3.5 ppg), are main contributors.
• UVA is 11-5 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 63.5 points and shooting 43.7 percent from the field, 36.7 percent from 3-point range and 64.7 percent from the free throw line.
Hoos in the National Rankings
• UVA ranks first nationally in assist/turnover ratio (1.83), turnovers per game (8.2), third in scoring defense (59.1 ppg), eighth in fouls per game (13.6), ninth in turnover margin (4.1), 12th in field goal percentage defense (40.0), 15th in blocks per game (5.2) and 26th in 3-point field goal percentage defense (30.7).
All-Time vs. Boston College
• Virginia is 20-9 all-time vs. Boston College, including a 1-1 mark in the ACC Tournament, in a series that dates to 1971-72.
• The Cavaliers would meet the Tigers in the ACC Tournament for the first time since posting a 68-62 win in the 2010 first round in Greensboro, N.C.
• UVA posted a 72-68 win at Boston College on Feb. 28.
• UVA has won 13 of the last 16 games in the series.
• UVA has limited Boston College to 58 or fewer points in eight of the last 12 meetings.
• Head coach Tony Bennett is 14-6 all-time against Boston College.
Last Time vs. the Eagles
• Reece Beekman had 18 points, five rebounds and eight assists to lead Virginia to a 72-68 win at Boston College on Feb. 28.
• Isaac McKneely added 14 points and Jake Groves chipped in 13 as UVA ended a two-game losing streak.
• Ryan Dunn ripped down a career-high 13 rebounds as the Cavaliers owned a 37-30 advantage on the glass.
• UVA shot 44.4 percent from the field, 38.1 percent from 3-point range and 72.7 percent from the charity stripe.
• Quinten Post had 24 points and 10 rebounds for the Eagles.
Last Time Out
• Reece Beekman tied a career high with 21 points to defeat Georgia Tech 72-57 during Senior Day on March 9 at John Paul Jones Arena.
• Beekman added a game-high nine assists and six rebounds for the Cavaliers, who finished 15-2 at JPJ.
• Isaac McKneely added 16 points and Taine Murray chipped in 12 in a career-high 28 minutes off the bench.
• UVA shot 51.8 percent and drilled 12 of 26 3-pointers.
• Baye Ndongo led Georgia Tech (14-17, 7-13 ACC) with 21 points and nine rebounds.
Uneven Road
• UVA is 5-6 in true road games and 7-7 away from home overall.
• Seven of Virginia’s nine losses have been away from home and by 16 or more points.
• Foes have averaged 72.6 points, shot 47.9 percent and +23.3 average margin of victory in UVA’s seven losses away from home.
• UVA has averaged 49.3 points, while shooting 35 percent including 26 percent from 3-point range in the seven away losses.
• UVA has yielded a +10.1 rebound margin to its foes in the seven losses away from home (38-27.9).
• UVA has averaged 72.4 points and shot 44 from 3-point range during its five true road wins.
On The Horizon
• The winner of the Virginia-Boston College ACC quarterfinal contest advances to the semifinals on Friday, March 15. Tipoff at Capital One Arena is set for 9:30 p.m. on ESPN.