Game Notes: #4 Virginia hosts Louisville Saturday night

No. 4 Virginia (23-6, 12-5 ACC) hosts No. 11 Louisville (23-7, 12-5 ACC) in its regular-season finale on Saturday (March 5). Tipoff for the Atlantic Coast Conference game at John Paul Jones Arena (14,593) is set for 8:30 p.m. The sold-out game will be televised on ESPN.

 

For Openers

• Virginia aims for its first two-game series sweep of Louisville.
• UVA has clinched a double-bye in the ACC Tournament and would gain the No. 1 seed with a win over Louisville, Duke win over North Carolina and Virginia Tech win over Miami.
• As of March 4, UVA and Louisville are tied for third in the ACC at 12-5.
• As of March 3, UVA ranks third nationally in scoring defense (60.1 ppg), seventh in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.57), 10th in 3-point field goal shooting (40.7%), 13th in free throw shooting (76%), 14th in field goal shooting (48.9%), 26th in turnover margin (2.8) and 27th in scoring margin (10.7).

 

Broadcast Information

• The Virginia-Louisville game will be televised on ESPN, streamed online at WatchESPN.com 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), 159-70 in seven seasons at UVA and 228-103 in 10 seasons overall.
• Louisville: Rick Pitino (Massachusetts, 1974), 391-133 in 15 seasons at Louisville and 745-261 in 31 seasons overall.

 

Virginia Ranked No. 4 in Latest Polls

• UVA is ranked No. 4 in the latest AP and USA Today Coaches polls.
• UVA has been ranked in the top 10 in the AP poll on three different occasions this season (14 weeks overall).
• UVA has been ranked in the top 10 in 35 of the last 39 AP polls.
• UVA was ranked in the top 10 in 25 consecutive AP polls from March 3, 2014 to Nov. 16, 2015, its longest span since 49 straight from 1980-83.
• The Cavaliers’ No. 6 preseason ranking was UVA’s best since a No. 1 ranking to start the 1982-83 season.

 

All-Time vs. Louisville

• The Cavaliers are 7-4 all-time vs. Louisville in the series that dates back to 1923-24.
• The Cavaliers are 3-1 against the Cardinals in Charlottesville, including a 52-47 win at John Paul Jones Arena last season.
• UVA is 2-1 vs. Louisville in ACC action.
• The Cavaliers defeated the Cardinals 63-47 earlier this season.
• Tony Bennett is 2-1 vs. Louisville as head coach at Virginia.
• Malcolm Brogdon is Virginia’s current career leading scorer against Louisville, averaging 15 points and 4.3 rebounds in three career games.
• Anthony Gill is averaging 10.7 points and 5.3 rebounds in three games against Louisville.

 

Last Time vs. The Cardinals

• Malcolm Brogdon and Anthony Gill tallied 13 points each to lead then-No. 11 UVA to a 63-47 win at then-No. 16 Louisville on Jan. 30.
• The Cavaliers shot 57.8 percent (26-45) from the field and limited the Cardinals to 32.7 percent, including 21.1 percent in the first half.
• UVA’s win marked the Cardinals’ worst loss at KFC Yum! Center, surpassing Kentucky’s 15-point win over Louisville on Dec. 31, 2010.
• UVA led 29-14 at halftime, marking a season low for points for a Cavalier opponent in the opening stanza.
• UVA held Louisville scoreless for 7:34 of the first half as the Cardinals went 0-7 from the field with seven turnovers during that span.

 

Last Time Out

• Malcolm Brogdon had 18 points and Anthony Gill added 11 points and 10 rebounds as No. 4 Virginia posted a 64-57 road win against Clemson in Greenville, S.C., on March 1.
• Jaron Blossomgame tallied 31 points for Clemson, marking the most points allowed by an opposing player against UVA this season.
• UVA jumped out to a 12-0 lead, but Clemson took the lead at 35-34 on a Blossomgame 3-pointer at 16:23 of the second half.
• The Cavaliers trailed 47-46 at 6:50 of the second half, but closed the game on an 18-10 run.
• UVA went 9-19 from 3-point range and had eight turnovers.

 

There’s No Place Like Home

• Virginia is 137-36 (.792) in 10 seasons, including a 14-0 mark in 2015-16, at John Paul Jones Arena.
• As of March 3, UVA owns the nation’s seventh longest current home-winning streak at 19 games.
• UVA is 99-20 (.832), including a 64-5 (.928) mark the past four seasons, at home under head coach Tony Bennett.
• Virginia is 34-1 in ACC home games over the past four seasons, the best mark in ACC history with one loss (Duke 33-1 from 1962-64).
• UVA has won 11 or more home games for seven straight seasons.
• UVA’s 21-game home winning streak from Dec. 21, 2013-Jan. 22, 2015 set a JPJ record.

 

On The Horizon

• Virginia will compete in the 2016 ACC Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday, March 10 at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.