Game Notes: #5 seed UVA faces #4 seed Florida in East Regional

No. 5 seed UVA (23-10) plays No. 4 seed Florida (25-8) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, March 18. Tipoff at Amway Center in Orlando, Fla., is set for approximately 8:40 p.m.

 

For Openers

• UVA has 23 or more wins for a school-record fifth straight year.
• The Cavaliers rank first nationally in scoring defense at 56.1 ppg.
• UVA is 4-6 vs. ranked opponents in 2016-17.
• Senior guard London Perrantes became the first Cavalier to win an NCAA Tournament game in four straight years.

 

Broadcast Information

• The Virginia-Florida game will be televised on TNT and streamed online at NCAA.com (March Madness on Demand).
• The game will be broadcast on the Virginia Sports Radio Network and Westwood One/NCAA Radio Network on Sirius (136) and XM (202) and Internet (962).
• Live statistics will be located on VirginiaSports.com and Virginia Sports app.

 

The Head Coaches

• Virginia: Tony Bennett (Green Bay, 1992), 188-82 in eight seasons at UVA and 257-115 in 11 seasons overall
• Florida: Mike White (Ole Miss, 2000), 46-23 in two seasons at Florida and 147-63 in six seasons overall

 

All-Time in the NCAA Tournament

• UVA is making its fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance for the first time since 1981-84.
• UVA is making its fourth straight appearance in the Round of 32.
• Virginia is 29-20 all-time in 21 NCAA Tournament appearances.
• UVA has earned a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time and has a 4-4 record as a No. 5 seed.
• UVA reached the NCAA Final Four in 1981 and 1984.
• The Cavaliers reached their sixth NCAA Regional final appearance in 2016, losing 68-62 to No. 10 seed Syracuse.
• Virginia head coach Tony Bennett is 10-6 in seven NCAA tournaments, including a 7-4 record at UVA and 3-2 mark at Washington State.
• London Perrantes has averaged 10.9 points, 3.7 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 46.8 three-point field percentage (22 of 47) in 10 NCAA Tournament games.

 

UVA Ranked No. 24/23 in Latest Polls

• UVA is ranked No. 24 in the latest AP poll No. 23 in the USA Today Coaches’ poll.
• UVA has ranked in the top 15 in 56 of the last 62 polls.
• UVA was ranked in top 10 in the preseason rankings (No. 8/7) for the third straight season, matching a school-best from 1981-83.
• UVA has been ranked in 64 consecutive AP polls since Feb. 3, 2014.
• UVA finished in the top 10 (No. 3 in 2014 & No. 6 in 2015 and No. 4 in 2016) in the final AP rankings in three consecutive seasons for the first time since 1981-83.

 

All-Time Against Florida

• Virginia is 1-1 all-time against Florida in the series that dates back to the 1991-92 season.
• UVA meets Florida for the third time in the postseason and first time since suffering a 71-45 loss to the Gators in the second round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament.
• UVA posted a 62-56 win over Florida in the 1992 NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden in the other meeting between the teams.

 

Last Time vs. the Gators

• Bradley Beal had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, and sophomore Casey Prather scored 14 points to lead No. 7 seed Florida to a 71-45 victory over No. 10 seed Virginia in the second round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament at the CenturyLink Center Omaha.
• Patric Young added 13 points and seven rebounds for the Gators.
• Mike Scott was the only player to score in double figures for Virginia with 15 points and he had a team-high six rebounds.
• Florida closed the first half on a 17-4 run to take a 30-22 lead.
• After the Cavaliers closed to within six in the second half at 36-30 with 17:31 left to play, Florida went on 17-2 run to take control of the game.

 

Last Time Out

• London Perrantes had 24 points and Marial Shayok added a career-high 23 as No. 5 seed Virginia beat No. 12 seed UNC Wilmington 76-71 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, March 16.
• UVA trailed 26-11, but closed the first half on an 18-4 run to take a 30-29 lead.
• Perrantes tallied 19 points and Shayok added 12 in the second half.
• Darius Thompson added 10 points, four rebounds and a career-high four blocked shots in the win.
• The Cavaliers owned a 28-2 advantage in bench points and shot 50 percent (26 of 52) in the win.

 

On The Horizon

• The Virginia-Florida winner will advance to the NCAA East Regional on Friday and Sunday, March 24 & 26 at Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y.