Game Notes: #5 seed UVA vs. #12 seed UNC-Wilmington in East Regional

No. 5 seed UVA (22-10) plays No. 12 seed UNC-Wilmington (29-5) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, March 16. Tipoff at Amway Center in Orlando, Fla., is set for 12:40 p.m.

 

For Openers

• UVA earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament, while UNC Wilmington earned the Colonial Athletic Association’s automatic bid.
• The 24th-ranked Cavaliers are making their 21st NCAA Tournament appearance.
• UVA has 22 or more wins for a school-record sixth straight year.
• The Cavaliers rank first nationally in scoring defense at 55.6 ppg.
• London Perrantes leads UVA in scoring at 12.5 points per game, marking the lowest scoring average to lead any UVA team in a single season (Malcolm Brogdon 12.7 ppg in 2013-14).

 

Broadcast Information

• The Virginia-UNC Wilmington game will be televised on truTV and streamed online at NCAA.com (March Madness on Demand).
• The game will be broadcast on the Virginia Sports Radio Network and Westwood One/NCAA Radio Network on Sirius (136) and XM (202) and Internet (962).
• Live statistics will be located on VirginiaSports.com and Virginia Sports app.

 

The Head Coaches

• Virginia: Tony Bennett (Green Bay, 1992), 187-82 in eight seasons at UVA and 256-115 in 11 seasons overall
• UNC Wilmington: Kevin Keatts (Marshall, 2011), 72-27 in three seasons at UNC Wilmington

 

Hoo Are These Wahoos?

• UVA is led by senior point guard London Perrantes, who is averaging team highs in points (12.5 ppg) and assists (3.8 apg).
• Isaiah Wilkins (7.1 ppg & 6.2 rpg) leads the team in rebounding, blocked shots (42) and steals (32).
• Devon Hall is averaging 8.7 points and 4.3 rebounds, while Marial Shayok is averaging 8.7 points.
• Kyle Guy is averaging 7.7 points to top all UVA rookies and Darius Thompson has added 5.9 points per game.
• Jack Salt, Ty Jerome, Mamadi Diakite and Jarred Reuter are key role players.

 

All-Time in the NCAA Tournament

• UVA is making its fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance for the first time since 1981-84.
• Virginia is 28-20 all-time in 20 NCAA Tournament appearances.
• UVA’s matchup vs. UNC Wilmington marks the Cavaliers’ first NCAA Tournament game in the state of Florida and first postseason game against the Seahawks.
• UVA has earned a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time and has a 3-4 record as a No. 5 seed.
• UVA reached the NCAA Final Four in 1981 and 1984.
• The Cavaliers reached their sixth NCAA Regional final appearance in 2016, losing 68-62 to No. 10 seed Syracuse.
• Virginia head coach Tony Bennett is 9-6 in six NCAA tournaments, including a 6-4 record at UVA and 3-2 mark at Washington State.
• London Perrantes has averaged 9.4 points, 3.8 assists and 2.9 rebounds in nine NCAA Tournament games.

 

In The National Rankings

• As of March 14, UVA ranks first nationally in scoring defense (55.6 ppg), third in turnovers per game (9.5), ninth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.5), 13th in field goal percentage defense (39.5%), 18th in turnover margin (3.3), 20th in scoring margin (+11.0) and 28th in fouls per game (16.3).
• The Cavaliers have held 19 of their opponents to 55 or fewer points, including nine ACC opponents (Louisville, at BC, Georgia Tech, at Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Miami, at NC State, UNC, Pitt).
• UVA has held nine opponents to fewer than 50 points (9-0).

 

UVA Ranked No. 24/23 in Latest Polls

• UVA is ranked No. 24 in the latest AP poll No. 23 in the USA Today Coaches’ poll.
• UVA has ranked in the top 15 in 56 of the last 62 polls.
• UVA was ranked in top 10 in the preseason rankings (No. 8/7) for the third straight season, matching a school-best from 1981-83.
• UVA has been ranked in 64 consecutive AP polls since Feb. 3, 2014.
• UVA finished in the top 10 (No. 3 in 2014 & No. 6 in 2015 and No. 4 in 2016) in the final AP rankings in three consecutive seasons for the first time since 1981-83.

 

All-Time Against UNC Wilmington

• Virginia is 3-0 all-time against UNC Wilmington in the series that dates back to the 1983-84 season.
• UVA meets UNCW for the first time in the NCAA Tournament.
• The Cavaliers defeated the Seahawks 69-67 in the last meeting between the teams on Jan. 18, 2010, during Tony Bennett’s first season at UVA.
• UVA defeated UNCW 87-42 in the first meeting in Charlottesville and added another home win, 87-51, on Dec. 3, 1987.

 

Last Time vs. the Seahawks

• Sylven Landesberg led four players in double figures with 19 points as Virginia edged UNC Wilmington 69-67 at John Paul Jones Arena on Jan. 18, 2010.
• Jerome Meyinsse scored 14 points and Mike Scott added 12 and Sammy Zeglinski 10 for the Cavaliers.
• UVA out-rebounded UNCW 32-25 and overcame a 51 percent shooting effort by the Seahawks to post the win.
• Ahmad Grant led UNCW with 19 points and Chad Tomko added 17.
• UVA shot 42.6 percent from the field, but sank 20 of 24 free throws in the non-conference win.
• Zeglinski added eight rebounds and five assists for the Cavaliers.

 

Florida Not So Sunny

• Virginia is 4-19 in its last 23 contests in the Sunshine State (2-0 at 2016 Emerald Coast Classic, 1-11 at Florida State, 1-6 at Miami, 0-1 at South Florida, 0-1 in the ACC Tournament in Tampa).
• UVA topped Iowa (74-41) and Providence (63-52) at the 2016 Emerald Coast Classic in Niceville, Fla., this season.
• The Cavaliers ended a 17-game losing skid in Florida with a 62-50 win at Florida State in 2014 and followed it up with an 89-80 double overtime win at Miami in 2015.

 

Last Time Out

• First-team All-ACC selection Bonzie Colson had 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead No. 3 seed Notre Dame to a 71-58 win over No. 6 seed Virginia in ACC Tournament quarterfinal action on March 8 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
• Matt Farrell added 14 points and VJ Beachem and Steve Vasturia each added 12 as the Fighting Irish shot 52.2 percent in the win.
• Darius Thompson and Devon Hall led UVA with 12 points each and Ty Jerome and Marial Shayok each added 10.
• Notre Dame held the Cavaliers to 38.6 percent shooting and committed just eight turnovers in its 24th win of the season.
• Virginia out-rebounded Notre Dame 32-31, but allowed 34 points in the paint.
• Hall tied a career high with nine rebounds to lead Virginia.
• The Cavaliers’ bench totaled 33 points in the loss.

 

On The Horizon

• The NCAA East Regional will be held at Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y., on Friday and Sunday, March 24 & 26.