Home Game Notes: #13 UVA basketball hosts Robert Morris on Saturday
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Game Notes: #13 UVA basketball hosts Robert Morris on Saturday

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uva basketballNo. 13 UVA (8-1) hosts Robert Morris (3-8) in non-conference action on Saturday (Dec. 17). Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 4:30 p.m.

 

For Openers

  • Virginia meets Robert Morris for the second time and first since the 2004-05 season.
  • UVA meets its second Northeast Conference foe this season after defeating St. Francis Brooklyn (72-32) on Nov. 15.
  • The Cavaliers rank first in the nation in scoring defense at 47.6 points per game and have held seven of their nine opponents to 52 or fewer points.

 

Broadcast Information

  • The Virginia-Robert Morris game will be televised on ESPNU, streamed online on ACC Network Extra 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), 173-73 in eight seasons at UVA and 242-106 in 11 seasons overall.
  • Robert Morris: Andrew Toole (Pennsylvania, 2003), 123-95 in seven seasons at Robert Morris.

 

UVA Ranked No. 13/12 in Latest Polls

  • UVA is ranked No. 13 in the latest Associated Press poll and No. 12 in the USA Today Coaches’ poll.
  • UVA was ranked in the top 10 in the first four polls in 2016-17.
  • The Cavaliers were 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 52 consecutive AP polls since Feb. 3, 2014.
  • UVA has 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 vs. Robert Morris

  • Virginia is 1-0 all-time vs. Robert Morris in the series that dates back to the 2004-05 season.
  • UVA defeated Robert Morris 88-55 in its season opener on Nov. 19, 2004.
  • Devin Smith led four Cavaliers in double figures with 16 points.
  • J.R. Reynolds added 15 points and Elton Brown tallied 13 points and 10 rebounds.
  • Jason Clark contributed 10 points and seven rebounds as UVA shot 53.1 percent in the win.
  • Three-time All-ACC performer Sean Singletary added six points, seven assists and three steals in his UVA debut.
  • Mark Anderson led Robert Morris with 14 points and the Colonials shot just 32.2 percent (19-59) in the loss.

 

All-Time vs. Northeast Conference Opponents

  • Virginia is 10-0 all-time vs. current Northeast Conference opponents (3-0 vs. LIU Brooklyn, 3-0 vs. Wagner, 1-0 vs. Farleigh Dickinson, 1-0 vs. Mount St. Mary’s, 1-0 vs. St. Francis Brooklyn and 1-0 vs. Robert Morris).
  • Tony Bennett is 2-0 all-time vs. current Northeast Conference opponents as a head coach (1-0 vs. St. Francis Brooklyn at UVA and 1-0 vs. Fairleigh Dickinson at Washington State).

 

Last Time Out

  • Kyle Guy scored 13 points to lead then-No. 14 Virginia to a 76-53 win over East Carolina on Dec. 6.
  • London Perrantes (12), Marial Shayok (12), Mamadi Diakite (12) and Jarred Reuter (10) joined Guy in double figures as UVA drained nine 3-pointers and shot 56.6 percent in the win.
  • UVA started 1-9 from 3-point range, but hit seven straight to close the first half with a 42-20 lead.
  • Reuter and Isaiah Wilkins led UVA with five rebounds each.
  • Jeremy Sheppard led East Carolina with 17 points, including four 3-pointers.
  • UVA held East Carolina to 36.7 percent shooting, but the Pirates converted 10-23 (43.5%) from 3-point range.

 

There’s No Place Like Home

  • Virginia is 143-37 (.794) in 11 seasons at John Paul Jones Arena.
  • West Virginia ended UVA’s JPJ-record, 24-game home winning streak on Dec. 3.
  • The Cavaliers finished undefeated at home (15-0) in 2015-16 for the first time since 1981-82 (12-0).
  • UVA is 105-21 (.833), including a 70-6 (.921) mark the past five seasons, at home under head coach Tony Bennett.
  • Virginia is 35-1 in ACC home games over the past four seasons.
  • UVA has won 11 or more home games for seven straight seasons.
  • The Cavaliers have a 14-game, ACC-home winning streak with Duke dealing UVA its last ACC home loss on Jan. 31, 2015 (69-63).

 

Hoo Are These Wahoos?

  • Virginia is led by senior point guard London Perrantes, who is a Wooden and Naismith Player of the Year and ACC Player of the Year candidate.
  • Perrantes is averaging team highs in points (10.2 ppg) and assists (4.4 apg).
  • Isaiah Wilkins (6.2 ppg & 5.1 rpg) leads the team in rebounds (46) and steals (16) and is second in blocked shots (12).
  • Marial Shayok is averaging 9.6 points off the bench, while Darius Thompson has added 8.9 points per game off the bench.
  • Newcomer Kyle Guy is averaging 8.1 points on 55.6 percent shooting, while Jarred Reuter leads the team in field goal percentage (65.7%) and free throw percentage (81.3%), and is second on the team in rebounding at 4.4 per game.
  • Mamadi Diakite is averaging 6.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocked shots in 15.5 minutes per game.

 

On The Horizon

  • Virginia plays at California in non-conference action on Wednesday, Dec. 21. Tipoff at Haas Pavilion is set for 10 p.m. ET. The game will be televised by ESPN2.

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