No. 8 Virginia (13-1, 2-0 ACC) hosts No. 12 North Carolina (12-3, 1-1 ACC) in ACC men’s basketball action on Saturday, Jan. 6. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 1 p.m.
For Openers
- UVA meets its second ranked opponent of 2017-18 (West Virginia).
- The Cavaliers have a five-game winning streak.
- UVA has a four-game home winning streak against North Carolina.
- Ty Jerome is the reigning ACC Player of the Week after scoring a career-high 31 points vs. Boston College on Dec. 30.
- As of Jan. 4, UVA ranks first nationally in scoring defense (52.7 ppg) and turnovers per game (9.0), second in field goal percentage defense (36.4%), ninth in fouls per game (14.9), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.57) and scoring margin (18.9), 10th in turnover margin (5.1) and 24th in 3-point field goal percentage defense (29.9%).
Broadcast Information
- The Virginia-North Carolina contest will be televised on ESPN 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), 201-84 in nine seasons at UVA and 270-117 in 12 seasons overall.
- North Carolina: Roy Williams (North Carolina, 1972), 410-118 in 15 seasons at North Carolina and 828-219 in 30 seasons overall.
UVA Ranked No. 8 in Latest National Polls
- UVA is ranked a season-high No. 8 in the latest AP and USA Today Coaches’ polls.
- UVA has been ranked in the AP poll for six straight weeks and has been ranked in the top 10 in each of the past two polls.
- 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. 4, UVA ranks Nos. 1, 3 and 34 in the KenPom.com adjusted defense, overall and adjusted offense efficiency ratings.
- UVA is shooting 47.8 percent, 40 percent from 3-point range (2nd best in school history) and 75.7 percent from the free throw line (3rd best in school history).
- UVA has shot 50 percent or better in seven games and limited its opponents to less than 50 percent shooting in all 14 games.
Last Time Out
- De’Andre Hunter scored 14 points and No. 8 Virginia put the defensive clamps on Virginia Tech in a 78-52 victory on Wednesday, Jan. 3.
- Ty Jerome and Kyle Guy added 13 points each and Devon Hall had 12 for the Cavaliers (13-1, 2-0 ACC), who ended a two-game losing streak in Cassell Coliseum.
- UVA’s 26-point win was its largest against Virginia Tech since a 48-point win on Feb. 18, 1955 (107-59 in Charlottesville).
- Kerry Blackshear Jr. had 14 points to lead the Hokies (11-4, 0-2).
- Virginia Tech came into the game leading the nation in field goal percentage at .532 and among the leaders in 3-point percentage at .427, but they made only 17 of 47 shots and were just 2 of 12 from 3-point territory.
- The Cavaliers weren’t bothered by Virginia Tech’s game-long full-court press, committing just six turnovers.
All-Time Against North Carolina
- UVA is 54-131 all-time vs. UNC in the series that began in 1910-11.
- Virginia is 34-44 against North Carolina in Charlottesville, including a four-game winning streak at JPJ.
- The Cavaliers have won four of the last five regular-season meetings between the teams, but have lost seven straight postseason meetings against the Tar Heels.
- UVA is 2-3 against UNC in its last five games and 5-5 in its last 10.
- Tony Bennett is 6-8 all-time vs. North Carolina.
Last Time Against the Tar Heels
- Kyle Guy scored 17 points and London Perrantes added 13 as then-No. 23 UVA topped then-No. 5 North Carolina 53-43 on Feb. 27, 2017.
- Guy went 5 of 7 from 3-point range as UVA bagged 10 3-pointers.
- UVA held North Carolina to its lowest point total (43) since 1979.
- Devon Hall added 11 points and UVA committed a season-low four turnovers and matched a season high with eight blocked shots.
- Isaiah Wilkins led UVA with nine rebounds and four blocked shots.
- Joel Berry II led UNC with 12 points and Justin Jackson was held to a season-low seven points.
Getting Defensive
- UVA has limited its foes to 52.7 points per game (2nd best in school history) and has held six opponents to fewer than 50 points (UNCG, Austin Peay, Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, Savannah State and Hampton).
- UVA has held 11 foes to less than 43 percent shooting.
- The Cavaliers have held eight opponents to less than 30 percent shooting from 3-point range.
- The Cavaliers are 70-2 when limiting their opponents to fewer than 50 points under head coach Tony Bennett.
- 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.
- Bennett-coached teams are 95-3 when holding opponents to fewer than 50 points during his 12-year coaching career.
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 71.6 points per game (most under Bennett) on offense, while yielding a nation-leading 52.7 ppg (second lowest in school history) on defense.
- UVA has started Ty Jerome, Kyle Guy, Hall, Wilkins and Salt in each of its 14 games.
- Guy leads the team in scoring at 15.5 points per game and has reached double figures in 12 games, including a career-high 29 points at VCU (11/17/17) and 21 vs. Lehigh (12/2/17).
- Hall has averaged 11.5 points, which is 3.1 points higher than last year’s average of 8.4 points.
- Wilkins is averaging 6.9 points and team-highs in rebounds (7.4), blocked shots (1.4) and steals (1.4).
- Jerome is averaging 9.9 points and Salt has chipped in 4.1 rebounds per game.
- Graduate transfer Nigel Johnson is averaging 6.5 points after averaging 11.3 points for Rutgers last season.
- Mamadi Diakite (6.3 ppg & 3.7 rpg) and redshirt freshmen De’Andre Hunter (6.6 ppg) are key role players.
- Jay Huff (4.6 ppg) and Marco Anthony provide depth and fellow rookie Francesco Badocchi is expected to redshirt the 2017-18 season.
On the Horizon
- No. 8 Virginia hosts Syracuse onTuesday, Jan. 9. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for8 p.m. The game will be televised on the ACC Network.
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