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Game Preview: #8 UVA opens season Friday at UNC-Greensboro

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uva basketballNo. 8 UVA travels to UNCG for its season opener on Friday (Nov. 11). Tipoff at the Greensboro Coliseum is scheduled for 7 p.m.

For Openers

  • UVA begins its 112th season of men’s basketball, sporting a 1,533-1,151 (.571) all-time record.
  • UVA is 17-1 in its last 18 season-opening games, including an 86-48 home win over Morgan State last season.
  • Virginia is 6-1 in season openers under head coach Tony Bennett with the lone loss at George Mason (63-59) to begin the 2012-13 campaign.
  • The Cavaliers are 89-22 all-time in 111 season-opening games.
  • UVA meets UNC Greensboro for the first time and plays its first game against a Southern Conference opponent since posting a 74-39 win over Wofford on Dec. 30, 2012.
  • Cavalier forwards Austin Nichols (violation of team rules) and Mamadi Diakite (amateurism review) will not play against UNC Greensboro.

Broadcast Information

  • The Virginia-UNCG game will be streamed online at ESPN3.com and broadcast on the Virginia Sports Radio Network, VirginiaSports.com and Virginia Athletics mobile app on iTunes or Android.
  • Live statistics will be located on VirginiaSports.com and the Virginia Sports app.

The Head Coaches

  • Virginia: Tony Bennett (Green Bay, 1992), 165-72 in seven seasons at UVA and 234-105 in nine seasons overall.
  • UNCG: Wes Miller (North Carolina, 2007), 60-92 in five seasons at UNCG.

UVA Ranked No. 8/7 in Preseason Rankings

  • UVA is ranked No. 8 in the Associated Press and No. 7 in the USA Today Coaches’ preseason polls.
  • The Cavaliers have been ranked in top 10 in the preseason rankings for the third straight season, matching a school-best from 1981-83.
  • UVA has been ranked in the top 10 in 38 of the last 42 AP polls.
  • UVA has been ranked in the top 10 in eight consecutive AP polls and nine consecutive coaches’ polls entering 2016-17.
  • UVA has finished in the top 10 (No. 3 in 2014 & No. 6 in 2015 and No. 4) in the final AP rankings in three consecutive seasons for the first time since 1981-83.

All-Time vs. Southern Conference Opponents

  • Virginia is 110-15 all-time vs. the Southern Conference (101-15 vs. VMI, 3-0 vs. East Tennessee State, 2-0 vs. Citadel, 2-0 vs. Wofford, 1-0 vs. Furman, 1-0 vs. Samford).
  • Tony Bennett is 2-0 all-time vs. SoCon opponents as a head coach (1-0 vs. Wofford at UVA, 1-0 vs. Citadel at Washington State).

About The 2016-17 Schedule

  • Six of Virginia’s opponents are ranked in the top 20 of the AP preseason poll (Duke, Villanova, North Carolina, Louisville, Syracuse and West Virginia) while seven (Florida State, California, Miami, NC State, Ohio State, Virginia Tech and Notre Dame) received votes.
  • The Cavaliers will play 13 games against 2016 NCAA Tournament teams: home games against Duke, North Carolina, West Virginia, Miami, Pitt and Yale; road contests at Villanova, North Carolina, Syracuse, California, Pitt and Notre Dame; and a neutral-site tilt against Iowa in the Emerald Coast Classic in Niceville, Fla.
  • Four opponents (Florida State, Georgia Tech, Ohio State and Virginia Tech) participated in the 2016 National Invitation Tournament.

Virginia Picked 3rd in The ACC

  • Virginia was picked to finish third in the ACC preseason poll.
  • The Cavaliers, who were picked second and finished tied for second last season, have finished at or higher than their predicted finish in each of the last eight seasons.
  • Duke is the preseason favorite, followed by North Carolina, Virginia, Louisville, Syracuse, NC State, Notre Dame, Florida State, Miami, Virginia Tech, Clemson, Pitt, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech and Boston College.

On The Horizon

  • Virginia hosts St. Francis Brooklyn in non-conference action on Tuesday, Nov. 15. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 7 p.m.

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