Home Game Notes: #2 Virginia back on the road Sunday at Wake Forest
Sports

Game Notes: #2 Virginia back on the road Sunday at Wake Forest

Contributors

uva basketballNo. 2 Virginia (17-1, 6-0 ACC) continues ACC men’s basketball game at Wake Forest (8-10, 1-5 ACC) on Sunday, Jan. 21. Tipoff at Joel Coliseum is set for 6 p.m.

For Openers

  • Virginia has a five-game winning streak vs. Wake Forest.
  • UVA is first in the ACC at 6-0 and Wake Forest is 14th at 1-5.
  • The Cavaliers are riding a nine-game winning streak and are 6-0 in the ACC for the first time since starting 7-0 in 2014-15.
  • UVA’s nine-game winning streak is its longest since an 11-game winning streak in 2015-16.
  • As of Jan. 19, UVA ranks first nationally in scoring defense (52.6 ppg), second in turnovers per game (9.3), third in field goal percentage defense (36.6%), fourth in fouls per game (14.1), seventh in turnover margin (5.1) and scoring margin (17.6), ninth in 3-point field goal percentage defense (29.9%) and 13th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.52).

Broadcast Information

  • The Virginia-Wake Forest contest will be televised on ESPNU and streamed on ACC Network Extra (ESPN3.com) and ESPN App, 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), 205-84 in nine seasons at UVA and 274-117 in 12 seasons overall.
  • Wake Forest: Danny Manning (Kansas, 1991), 51-63 in four seasons at Wake Forest and 89-92 in six seasons overall.

UVA Ranked No. 2 in Latest National Polls

  • UVA is ranked a season-high No. 2 in the latest national polls.
  • The No. 2 ranking is UVA’s highest since March 2, 2015 (No. 2).
  • UVA has been ranked in the AP poll for eight straight weeks and has been ranked in the top 10 in each of the past four polls.
  • Virginia is the fifth team in ACC history to move from unranked in preseason to the top 3, joining Miami (2012-13), Georgia Tech (2003-04), Wake Forest (1980-81) and North Carolina (1972-73).
  • UVA is the lone ACC team to be ranked in the top 3 in four of the past five seasons.
  • The Cavaliers received votes in the first three AP polls, snapping a streak of 64 consecutive weeks in the AP rankings since Feb. 3, 2014.
  • UVA was ranked in the top 10 in the preseason polls from 2014-16.

UVA in Ken Pom Efficiency Ratings

  • As of Jan. 19, UVA ranks Nos. 1, 3 and 30 in the KenPom.com adjusted defense, overall and adjusted offense efficiency ratings.
  • UVA is shooting 47.4 percent, 39.3 percent from 3-point range (2nd best in school history) and 76.7 percent from the free throw line (best in school history).
  • UVA has shot 50 percent or better in eight games and limited its opponents to less than 50 percent shooting in all 18 games.

Last Time Out

  • De’Andre Hunter tallied a game-high 17 points off the bench to lead No. 2 Virginia to a 64-48 win at Georgia Tech on Thursday, Jan. 18.
  • Ty Jerome added 12 points and Devon Hall and Kyle Guy added 11 each as the Cavaliers won their third straight game vs. Georgia Tech.
  • Hunter’s four-point play near the end of the first half gave UVA a 28-19 lead.
  • UVA shot 53.6 percent in the second half and forced 18 turnovers.
  • Georgia native Isaiah Wilkins had nine points, five rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots in an all-around effort.
  • Tadric Jackson led Georgia Tech with 15 points and Ben Lammers tallied six blocked shots.

All-Time Against Wake Forest

  • Virginia is 65-70 all-time vs. Wake Forest, including a 15-41 mark in Winston-Salem, in the series that dates back to 1910-11.
  • UVA has won six of the last seven meetings in the series, including a dramatic 72-71 win at the buzzer in the last meeting at Joel Coliseum in the 2015-16 season.
  • The Cavaliers have scored 70 or more points in four of their last five games (all wins) vs. the Demon Deacons.
  • Tony Bennett is 6-4 vs. Wake Forest as head coach at Virginia.

Last Time Against the Demon Deacons

  • London Perrantes tallied 24 points to lead then-No. 11 Virginia to a 79-62 win over Wake Forest on Jan. 8, 2017.
  • UVA trailed 39-38 at halftime, but Perrantes scored 19 second-half points to lead the Cavaliers to their fifth straight win against the Demon Deacons.
  • Marial Shayok added 17 points and Devon Hall had 13 for UVA.
  • Isaiah Wilkins added seven points, four rebounds, two steals and a career-high five blocked shots for UVA.
  • Current Atlanta Hawks rookie John Collins scored 16 points and Bryant Crawford 15 for the Demon Deacons.
  • UVA canned nine 3-pointers and owned a 37-32 rebounding edge.

Getting Defensive

  • UVA has limited its foes to 52.6 points per game (2nd best in school history) and has held eight opponents to fewer than 50 points (UNCG, Austin Peay, Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, Savannah State, Hampton, North Carolina and Georgia Tech).
  • UVA has held 15 opponents to 60 or fewer points.
  • UVA has held 15 foes to less than 43 percent shooting.
  • The Cavaliers have held 10 opponents to less than 30 percent shooting from 3-point range.
  • The Cavaliers are 72-2 when limiting their opponents to fewer than 50 points under head coach Tony Bennett (8-0 in 2017-18).
  • Bennett-coached teams are 97-3 when holding opponents to fewer than 50 points during his 12-year coaching career.
  • In 2016-17, Virginia led the nation in scoring defense (56.4 ppg) for the third time under Bennett.
  • Bennett-coached teams have led the nation in scoring defense four times (2008-09, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2016-17) and finished in the top-five nationally in eight of 11 seasons.

About the Cavaliers

  • UVA is led by tri-captains Devon Hall, Isaiah Wilkins and Jack Salt.
  • The announcement of Hall, Wilkins and Salt marked the first time in Bennett’s 12-year head coaching career where he officially named team captains.
  • UVA has averaged 70.2 points per game (second most under Bennett) on offense, while yielding a nation-leading 52.6 ppg (second lowest in school history) on defense.
  • UVA has started Ty Jerome, Kyle Guy, Hall, Wilkins and Salt in each of its 18 games.
  • Guy leads the team in scoring at 15.2 points per game and has reached double figures in 15 games, including a career-high 29 points at VCU (11/17/17), 22 vs. Syracuse (1/9/18) and 21 vs. Lehigh (12/2/17).
  • Hall has averaged 12.6 points, which is 4.2 points higher than last year’s average of 8.4 points.
  • Wilkins is averaging 7.0 points and team-highs in rebounds (7.2), blocked shots (1.6) and steals (1.5).
  • Jerome is averaging 9.8 points and Salt has chipped in 3.9 rebounds per game and 16 blocked shots.
  • Redshirt freshman De’Andre Hunter (7.6 ppg) has reached double figures in four of the last five games, including team highs at Georgia Tech (17) and Virginia Tech (14).
  • Graduate transfer Nigel Johnson is averaging 5.8 points and Mamadi Diakite has added 5.3 ppg & 3.4 rpg.
  • Jay Huff (3.7 ppg) and Marco Anthony provide depth and fellow rookie Francesco Badocchi is expected to redshirt the 2017-18 season.

On the Road Again

  • Virginia is playing its second consecutive ACC road game.
  • UVA is 3-1 in true road games, posting wins at VCU, Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech and a loss at West Virginia.
  • UVA’s 28-19 (.596) ACC road record over the past six seasons ranks first ahead of North Carolina (28-20, .583) and Duke (26-23, .531).

On the Horizon

  • No. 2 Virginia hosts No. 20 Clemson on Tuesday, Jan. 23. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for7 p.m. The game will be televised on the Regional Sports Network.

Contributors

Contributors

Have a guest column, letter to the editor, story idea or a news tip? Email editor Chris Graham at [email protected]. Subscribe to AFP podcasts on Apple PodcastsSpotifyPandora and YouTube.