Game Notes: #3 UVA basketball hosts #9 Louisville in ACC action on Saturday

Third-ranked UVA basketball (20-1, 8-1 ACC) hosts No. 9 Louisville (19-3, 7-2 ACC) for the first time in ACC action on Saturday (Feb. 7). Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m. The game is sold out.

 

For Openers

• UVa continues its first three-game stretch vs. top-15 opponents (No. 4 Duke, No. 12 North Carolina and No. 9 Louisville) since 1997 (No. 13 North Carolina, No. 2 Wake Forest and No. 13 Duke).
• UVa ranks first nationally in scoring defense at 50.9 points per game.
• Virginia is first in the ACC at 8-1, while Louisville is third at 7-2.
• The Cavaliers have won 15 of their 20 games by 11 or more points.
• Virginia’s 20-1 record marks its second best in school history (23-0 start in 1980-81).
• Virginia’s Tony Bennett and Mike Tobey, and Louisville’s Montrezl Harrell helped Team USA to the gold medal at the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship in Prague, Czech Republic.

 

Broadcast Information

• The Virginia-Louisville 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), 126-61 in six seasons at UVa and 195-94 in nine seasons overall.
Louisville: Rick Pitino (Massachusetts, 1974), 360-120 in 14 seasons at Louisville and 714-248 in 30 seasons overall.

 

UVa Ranked No. 3 in Latest National Polls

• UVa is ranked No. 3 in the latest AP and USA Today coaches’ polls after being ranked No. 2 in both polls for three straight weeks.
• Prior to this year, the Cavaliers achieved their last No. 2 ranking on March 8, 1983.
• Virginia has delivered four of the 14 home losses by teams currently ranked in the top 18 of this week’s AP poll (Notre Dame, North Carolina, Maryland, VCU).
• The Cavaliers have been ranked in the top 10 for the first 14 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 16 straight weeks dating back to last season.

 

Virginia All-Time vs. Louisville

• Virginia and Louisville meet for the first time since Feb. 17, 1990, when the Cardinals defeated the Cavaliers 72-56 in Charlottesville.
• The Cavaliers are 5-3 all-time vs. Louisville in the series that dates back to 1923-24.
• The Cavaliers are 2-1 against the Cardinals in Charlottesville and the teams are meeting for the first time at John Paul Jones Arena.
• Virginia has a two-game losing streak against the Cardinals and looks for its first win in the series in 30 years.

 

Last Time vs. Louisville

• Everick Sullivan had 22 points and Felton Spencer had 11 in Louisville’s 72-56 win over Virginia on Feb. 17, 1990.
• Bryant Stith had a game-high 27 points and John Crotty added 13 for Virginia.
• Louisville shot 50 percent from the floor and limited the Cavaliers to just 30.8 percent, including 10.5 percent (2-19) from 3-point range.
• Virginia forced 18 turnovers, but were outrebounded 43-34.

 

Last Time Out

• Malcolm Brogdon scored 17 points and Virginia’s defense locked up No. 12 North Carolina in the second half to win 75-64 in Chapel Hill on Feb. 2.
• Justin Anderson added 16 points and a career-high seven assists, London Perrantes had 15 points and six assists, and Anthony Gill chipped in 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds off the bench.
• After shooting 52 percent in the first half, Virginia limited UNC to just 11-for-29 (38 percent) after halftime.
• Virginia shot 51.8 percent from the floor, blocked seven shots and had nine steals in its eighth road win of the season.
• Marcus Paige led North Carolina with 15 points and Brice Johnson added 14 points and a game-high eight rebounds.
• Kennedy Meeks also landed in double figures with 11 points, but had six turnovers.

 

There’s No Place Like Home

• UVa is 118-36 (.766) in nine seasons, including a 10-1 mark in 2014-15, at John Paul Jones Arena.
• UVa’s 21-game home winning streak from Dec. 21, 2013-Jan. 22, 2015 set a JPJ record.
• UVa is 80-20 (.800) at home under head coach Tony Bennett.
• Virginia has sold out home contests vs. Harvard, Davidson, Duke, Louisville (2/7), Wake Forest (2/14), 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 plays at NC State on Wednesday, Feb. 11. Tipoff at PNC Arena is set for 8 p.m. The game will be televised on the ACC Network.