Game Notes: #10 Virginia plays #14 West Virginia in Madison Square Garden

No. 10 Virginia (7-1) plays No. 14 West Virginia in the Jimmy V Men’s Basketball Classic on Tuesday, Dec. 8 in New York. Tipoff at Madison Square Garden is set for 7 p.m.

 

For Openers

• Virginia meets West Virginia for the first time in 31 seasons.
• UVA returns to Madison Square Garden for the first time since suffering a 61-59 loss to Michigan State in the 2014 NCAA East Regional semifinals.
• All-American Malcolm Brogdon has four 20-point games and leads UVA in scoring for the third straight season at a career-best 17.3 points per game.
• Junior point guard London Perrantes missed the Ohio State and William & Mary games (appendectomy) and his status for the West Virginia game is to be determined.
• UVA ranks sixth nationally in scoring defense at 57.5 points per game.
• UVA is shooting 50 percent from the field (best since 52.3% in 1982-83), 38.3 percent from 3-point range (best since 38.8% in 2010-11) and 75.8 percent from the free throw line (best since 76.2% in 1978-79).

 

Broadcast Information

• The Virginia-West Virginia game will be televised on ESPN, streamed online at WatchESPN.com and broadcast on the Virginia Sports Radio Network, ESPN Radio, 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), 143-65 in seven seasons at UVA and 212-98 in 10 seasons overall.
• West Virginia: Bob Huggins (West Virginia, 1977), 182-101 in nine seasons at West Virginia and 772-312 in 34 seasons overall.

 

UVA All-Time vs. West Virginia

• Virginia is 8-8 all-time vs. West Virginia in the series that dates back to the 1915-16 season.
• The Cavaliers and Mountaineers are meeting for the first time since Jan. 15, 1985, when UVA topped West Virginia 56-55 in the first round of the NIT in Morgantown.
• UVA is 3-2 in its last five games vs. West Virginia.

 

Last Time vs. West Virginia

• Jim Miller tallied 16 points and nine rebounds to lead Virginia to a 56-55 win at West Virginia in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament.
• Olden Polynice added eight points and 10 rebounds for Virginia, which shot 18-22 from the free throw line in the win.
• Lester Rowe led West Virginia with 13 points and Dale Blaney added 10.

 

Last Time Out

• Malcolm Brogdon and Anthony Gill tallied 16 points each to lead Virginia to a 67-52 non-conference win over William & Mary on Dec. 5.
• Darius Thompson added 12 points and a season-high four steals and Isaiah Wilkins chipped in eight points, a career-high four steals and three rebounds.
• UVA’s 15 steals were its most since 16 vs. NC State in 2008.

 

Virginia All-Time at Madison Square Garden

• Virginia has a 5-7 all-time record at Madison Square Garden.
• The Cavaliers return to the Garden for the first time since dropping an NCAA regional semifinal game to Michigan State (61-59) on March 28, 2014.
• UVA won the 1980 and 1992 NIT titles at MSG.
• Tony Bennett had his NBA Playoff career high at MSG, scoring nine points (4-4 FG, 1-1 3FG) vs. the Knicks on May 9, 1993.

 

‘Hoo Are These Wahoos?

• UVA is averaging 77.1 points per game and yielding 57.5 ppg (sixth nationally and most since 62.4 in 2010-11).
• The Cavaliers lead the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.12 and are tied for ninth in turnover margin at +5.8.
• Senior All-America candidate Malcolm Brogdon leads UVA in scoring for the third consecutive season at a career-best 17.3 points per game, while All-ACC performer Anthony Gill is averaging 12.6 points and 5.8 rebounds.
• Brogdon has four 20-point efforts, including a career-high 28 at George Washington), and Gill has reached double figures in scoring in all eight games.
• London Perrantes is averaging career highs in points (10.0), assists (5.3) and assist-to-turnover ratio (4.57).
• Marial Shayok has reached double figures in scoring in three of the last six games, including a career-high 17 vs. Long Beach State, since joining the starting lineup.
• UVA has out-rebounded its opponents in six of its seven wins and has a +8.4 rebounding margin overall.
• Nine players are averaging 10 or more minutes per game.
• The Cavaliers have shot 50 percent or better from 3-point range in three of their last five games.

 

On The Horizon

• Virginia hosts Villanova in non-conference action on Saturday, Dec. 19. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for Noon.