Game Notes: #2 UVA basketball hosts Pitt in ACC action on Monday

No. 2 UVA (23-1, 11-1 ACC) hosts Pitt (17-9, 6-6 ACC) in ACC action on Monday (Feb. 16). Tipoff for the sold out contest at John Paul Jones Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m.

 

For Openers

• Virginia meets Pitt for the lone regular season meeting between the teams.
• The Cavaliers rank first nationally in scoring defense at 50.9 points per game.
• UVa junior guard Justin Anderson fractured a finger on his left hand on Feb. 7 and is out 4-6 weeks.
• Virginia is first in the ACC at 11-1, while Pitt is eighth at 6-6.
• Virginia’s 23-1 record marks ties for its best start in school history (23-1 start in 1980-81).
• The Cavaliers have won 23 or more games in three consecutive seasons for the first time since 1981-83.

 

Broadcast Information

• The Virginia-Pitt game will be televised on ESPN and streamed online at WatchESPN.com.
• The game will be 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 Virginia Sports app.

 

The Head Coaches
Virginia: Tony Bennett (Green Bay, 1992), 129-61 in six seasons at UVa and 198-94 in nine seasons overall.
Pitt: Jamie Dixon (Texas Christian, 1987), 305-105 in 12 seasons at Pitt.

 

UVa Ranked No. 2/3 in Latest National Polls

• UVa is ranked Nos. 2 and 3 in the latest AP and USA Today coaches’ polls.
• The Cavaliers were ranked No. 2 in both polls from Jan. 12-Feb. 1.
• Prior to this year, the Cavaliers achieved their last No. 2 ranking on March 8, 1983.
• Virginia has delivered four of the 18 home losses by teams currently ranked in the top 20 of this week’s AP poll (Notre Dame, North Carolina, Maryland, VCU).
• The Cavaliers have been ranked in the top 10 for the first 15 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.
• UVa is one of three teams (Duke and Arizona) that have been ranked in the top 10 for 17 straight weeks dating back to last season.

 

Virginia All-Time vs. Pitt

• Virginia is 9-3 all-time vs. Pitt in the series that dates back to 1957-58.
• The Cavaliers have a five-game winning steak against Pitt, including a pair of three-point victories last season (48-45 in Pittsburgh and 51-48 during the ACC Tournament in Greensboro).
• The Cavaliers meet the Panthers for the first time in ACC play in Charlottesville, and are 3-1 against Pitt at home overall.
• Tony Bennett is 2-0 vs. Pitt as head coach at Virginia and 2-1 career.
• Bennett suffered a 57-43 loss to Pitt in Newark, N.J., on Nov. 29, 2008, as head coach at Washington State.

 

Last Time vs. Pitt

• Anthony Gill hit two free throws with 8.5 seconds left to help Virginia hold off Pitt 51-48 in ACC Tournament semifinal action on March 15, 2014.
• Justin Anderson secured the win with a block on James Robinson’s 3-point attempt with three seconds left.
• Joe Harris led UVa with 12 points, while Malcolm Brogdon and Anthony Gill each added 10 points.
• Akil Mitchell had eight points and eight rebounds for UVa.
• Talib Zanna and Lamar Patterson had 15 points apiece for Pitt.

 

Last Time Out

• Malcolm Brogdon’s steal near the final buzzer sealed No. 2 Virginia’s 61-60 win over Wake Forest on Saturday, Feb. 14.
• Brogdon prevented Codi Miller-McIntyre from driving past him and caused the game-ending turnover as the Cavaliers held on after blowing almost all of a 13-point second-half lead in the win.
• Anthony Gill scored 19 points to lead Virginia, while Brogdon added 11 points, nine rebounds, five assists and four steals.
• London Perrantes added 11 points for the Cavaliers, who played their second straight game without injured Justin Anderson.
• The Cavaliers shot 45.3 percent from the floor, including a 16-31 (51.6%) effort in the second half.
• Dinos Mitoglou led the Demon Deacons with 18 points on 6-12 shooting from 3-point range.
• Miller-McIntyre added 13 points and Cornelius Hudson had 12.

 

There’s No Place Like Home

• UVa is 120-36 (.769) in nine seasons, including a 12-1 mark in 2014-15, at John Paul Jones Arena.
• The Cavaliers have won 11 or more home games for six straight seasons.
• UVa’s 21-game home winning streak from Dec. 21, 2013-Jan. 22, 2015 set a JPJ record.
• UVa is 82-20 (.804) at home under head coach Tony Bennett.
• Virginia has sold out home contests vs. Harvard, Davidson, Duke, Louisville, Wake Forest, Pitt (2/16), Florida State (2/22) and Virginia Tech (2/28) this season.
• Virginia enjoyed a school-best, 21-game ACC home winning streak from Jan. 6, 2013-Jan. 22, 2015, marking the longest in the ACC since Duke’s 22-game ACC home winning streak from 2002-04.

 

On The Horizon

• Virginia hosts Florida State on Sunday, Feb. 22. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 6:30 p.m. The sold out game will be televised on ESPNU.