Game Preview: #6 UVA basketball opens Friday with Morgan State

No. 6 Virginia hosts Morgan State in season-opening men’s basketball action on Friday (Nov. 13). Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m.

 

For Openers

• UVA begins its 111th season of men’s basketball, sporting a 1,514-1,143 (.570) all-time record.
• UVA is 16-1 in its last 17 season-opening games, including a 79-51 road win at James Madison last season.
• Virginia is 5-1 in season openers under head coach Tony Bennett with the lone loss at George Mason (63-59) to begin the 2012-13 campaign.
• The Cavaliers are 88-22 all-time in 110 season-opening games.
• UVA opens the season against a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference team for the first time since defeating South Carolina State (75-38) in 2011-12.
• Morgan State assistant coach Brian Ellerbe served as an assistant coach at UVA from 1991-94.

 

Broadcast Information

• The Virginia-Morgan State game will be streamed online at ESPN3.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), 136-64 in six seasons at UVA and 205-97 in nine seasons overall.
• Morgan State: Todd Bozeman (Rhode Island, 1986), 150-140 in nine seasons at Morgan State and 185-202 in 14 seasons overall.

 

Virginia’s No. 6 AP Preseason Ranking Best Since 1982-83

• UVA is ranked No. 6 in the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches’ preseason polls.
• The No. 6 preseason ranking is UVA’s best since a No. 1 ranking to start the 1982-83 season.
• UVA has been ranked in the top 10 in 24 consecutive AP polls since March 3, 2014, its longest span since 49 consecutive polls from 1980-83.
• Virginia has been ranked in the preseason top-10 in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1981-82 and 1982-83.
• UVA has finished in the top 10 (No. 3 in 2014 & No. 6 in 2015) in the final AP rankings in back-to-back seasons for the first time since three straight seasons from 1981-83.

 

Virginia All-Time vs. Morgan State

• UVA sports a 2-0 all-time mark, including a 2-0 mark in Charlottesville, against Morgan State in the series that dates back to 2006-07.
• The Cavaliers defeated the Bears 85-66 at University Hall on Nov. 19, 2006.
• UVA posted a 75-57 win over Morgan State at John Paul Jones Arena in the last meeting between the teams on Dec. 19, 2012.
• Tony Bennett is 1-0 against Morgan State as head coach at UVA.

 

Last Time vs. Morgan State

• Virginia capped a season-high, eight-game winning streak with a 75-57 win over Morgan State on Dec. 19, 2012.
• Akil Mitchell had 15 points and 12 rebounds to lead the way for UVA.
• Darion Atkins had a career-high 17 points and former Cavalier and current Northern Iowa guard Paul Jesperson added 11 points.
• UVA had 23 second-chance points and outrebounded Morgan State, 39-21.

 

Meet The ‘Hoos

• Virginia returns three starters — All-ACC performers Malcolm Brogdon (Atlanta, Ga.) and Anthony Gill (High Point, N.C.) and guard London Perrantes (Los Angeles) — from last year’s team that captured the ACC regular-season title and recorded 30 wins for the second consecutive season.
• ACC Sixth Man of the Year Mike Tobey (Monroe, N.Y.), Marial Shayok (Ottawa, Ontario), Isaiah Wilkins(Lilburn, Ga.), Evan Nolte (Milton, Ga.) and Devon Hall (Virginia Beach, Va.) also return to the Cavaliers, who led the nation in scoring defense for the second straight season and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
• Newcomers Darius Thompson (Murfreesboro, Tenn.), Jack Salt (Auckland, New Zealand) and Jarred Reuter (Marion, Mass.) will make their UVA debuts this season.

 

On The Horizon

• Virginia travels to George Washington for a nonconference game on Monday, Nov. 16. Tipoff at the Charles E. Smith Center is set for 7:30 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN2.