#3 UVA basketball opens ACC play at Miami on Saturday

No. 3 UVA (12-0) opens ACC action at Miami (10-3) on Saturday, Jan. 3. Tipoff at BankUnited Center is set for 5:30 p.m.

 

For Openers

• Virginia (12-0) is off to its best start since the 1981-82 season and seeks its first 13-0 start since 1980-81.
• The Cavaliers are 6-0 in their last six ACC openers.
• UVa ranks second in the nation in scoring defense at 48.3 points per game.

 

ACC Openers

• Virginia opens its 62nd season of ACC action.
• The Cavaliers are 5-0 in ACC openers under head coach Tony Bennett and 26-35 all-time.
• Virginia looks to win its seventh consecutive ACC opener.
• The Cavaliers defeated Florida State 62-50 in last year’s ACC season opener in Tallahassee, Fla.

 

The Head Coaches
Virginia: Tony Bennett (Green Bay, 1992), 118-60 in six seasons at UVa and 187-93 in nine seasons overall.
Mami: Jim Larranaga (Providence, 1971), 76-39 in four seasons at Miami and 546-373 in 31 seasons overall.

 

UVa Ranked in Top 10 For Nine Straight Weeks

• UVa is ranked No. 3 in the latest Associated Press and USA Today coaches polls.
• The Cavaliers have been ranked in the top 10 for the first nine weeks of the season for the first time since 1982-83.
• The No. 9 AP preseason ranking was UVa’s best since a No. 1 ranking to start the 1982-83 season.

 

Series History

• Virginia is 6-10 all-time vs. Miami in the series that dates back to 1965-66.
• The Cavaliers are 0-6 vs. the Hurricanes in Coral Gables, including a 54-50 loss in the 2012-13 season.
• The Cavaliers defeated Miami 65-40 in the last meeting between the teams in Charlottesville on Feb. 26, 2014.
• Head coach Tony Bennett is 3-4 all-time against Miami.

 

Last Time Out

• Anthony Gill set career highs in points (25) and rebounds (13) for his second career double-double as Virginia rallied for an 83-72 win over Davidson on Dec. 30.
• Virginia trailed by 12 points in the first half, but outscored Davidson 51-36 in the second stanza to record its 12th-straight win.
• Darion Atkins tallied his first career double-double with a season-high 13 points and 10 rebounds.
• Malcolm Brogdon added 16 points and a 12-12 effort from the charity stripe in the win.
• Justin Anderson tallied 14 points, including four 3-pointers, for UVa.

 

Last Time vs. Miami

• London Perrantes had a career-high 15 points on 5-of-5 shooting, including a career-best 4-of-4 from 3-point range, to lead Virginia to a 65-40 win over Miami on Feb. 26, 2014.
• Malcolm Brogdon added 15 points and Joe Harris had 11 for UVa, which improved to 10-1 when holding opponents under 50 points.
• Erik Swoope had 13 points and Rion Brown added 12 for Miami.
• The Cavaliers held Miami to 26.3 percent shooting from the field, including 0-for-12 on 3-pointers.
• Akil Mitchell had a game-high nine rebounds as UVa outrebounded the Hurricanes 37-30.
• The Cavaliers shot 56.3 percent from 3-point range (9-of-16) as four players (Harris, Brogdon, Justin Anderson and Evan Nolte) each hit from long distance.

 

On The Horizon

• Virginia hosts NC State in ACC action on Wednesday, Jan. 7. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 7 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN2.