Game Notes: #11 UVA opens national title defense at Syracuse

No. 11 UVA opens the 2019-20 season at Syracuse in ACC action on Wednesday. Tipoff at Carrier Dome is scheduled for 9 p.m.

The UVA-Syracuse game will be televised on ACC Network and streamed live on WatchESPN.com and ESPN app to viewers who subscribe to a cable system that carries the ACC Network.

The game will also be broadcast on the Virginia Sports Radio Network, VirginiaSports.com and Virginia Sports app.

Live statistics will be located on VirginiaSports.com and the Virginia Sports app.

Game Notes

• The Cavaliers are the first defending NCAA champion to open the next season with a true road game since UCLA opened the 1967-68 season at Purdue.
• The Cavaliers have an 11-game winning streak in ACC openers and are 10-0 in ACC openers under head coach Tony Bennett.
• UVA is 7-5 all-time against Syracuse, including a 6-1 mark in ACC action, in the series that dates back to 1983-84.
• Virginia owns a three-game winning streak in the series, including a 79-53 win at Syracuse last season.
• The Cavaliers are 3-2 against the Orange at the Carrier Dome.
• UVA has held the Orange to 68 or fewer points in each of the last eight meetings between the teams.
• Head coach Tony Bennett is 6-2 all-time against Syracuse.

UVA Team Notes

• Mamadi Diakite, Kihei Clark, Braxton Key and Jay Huff headline Virginia’s top returnees from last season’s NCAA championship and ACC regular-season title team.
• Diakite started 22 games and is UVA’s top returning scorer at 7.4 points per game. Diakite averaged 10.5 points, 8.2 rebounds & 2.7 blocked shots in the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
• Clark started 22 games and averaged 4.5 points and 2.6 assists during his freshman campaign.
• Key is UVA’s top returning rebounder (5.3 per game), while Huff (4.4 ppg, 2.1 rpg) showed promise during limited action in 2018-19.
• Kody Stattmann and newcomers Casey Morsell and Tomas Woldetensae will take the minutes left by Ty Jerome, Kyle Guy and De’Andre Hunter on the perimeter.
• Stattmann averaged 4.1 minutes in 18 games as a freshman, while Morsell tallied 17 points per game as a high school senior and Woldetensae averaged 17.3 points at Indian Hills Community College.