UVa. men’s basketball opens ACC play at Florida State on Saturday

UVa. (9-4) opens its 61st year of ACC play at Florida State (9-3) on Saturday, Jan. 4. Tipoff at Donald L. Tucker Center (12,100) in Tallahassee is set for 5 p.m. ET.

 

Broadcast Information

The Virginia-Florida State game will be televised on ESPN2 and broadcast on the Virginia Sports Radio Network and Sirius (Channel 108) and XM (Channel 190) satellite radio stations. Live statistics (GameTracker) are located on VirginiaSports.com, as well as the Virginia Sports app, which is available free of charge through iTunes. Fans can also follow the game via Twitter at @UVaMensHoops.

 

Ticket Information

Tickets for the Virginia-Florida State game can be purchased online at Seminoles.com.

 

For Openers

• Virginia opens its 61st season of ACC action.

• The Cavaliers are 4-0 in ACC openers under head coach Tony Bennett and 25-35 all-time.

• Virginia looks to win its sixth consecutive ACC opener.

• The Cavaliers rank fifth in the nation in scoring defense at 56.7 points per game.

 

The Head Coaches

Virginia: Tony Bennett (Green Bay, 1992), 85-57 in five seasons at UVa and 154-90 in eight seasons overall.

Florida State: Leonard Hamilton (Tennessee-Martin, 1971), 206-146 in 12 seasons at Florida State and 406-356 in 26 seasons overall.

 

All-Time vs. Florida State

• Virginia is 18-22 vs. Florida State in the series that dates back to 1991-92.

• The Cavaliers are 0-10 in their last 10 games at Florida State and are 6-14 against the Seminoles in Tallahassee.

• UVa’s last win at Florida State was on Feb. 17, 2001 (69-66).

• UVa is 2-8 in its last 10 games against the Seminoles.

• The Cavaliers posted a 56-36 win and 53-51 loss against Florida State last season.

 

Last Time vs. FSU

• Florida State edged Virginia, 53-51, as Michael Snaer hit the game-winning shot with four seconds remaining.

• Virginia trailed 47-36 before Justin Anderson’s dunk ignited a 15-3 run with 6:01 remaining.

• Akil Mitchell had 15 points and a game-high 12 rebounds and Joe Harris added 12 points for Virginia.

• Okaro White led the Seminoles with 17 points, while Snaer finished with 14 and Kiel Turpin added 11.

 

About the Cavaliers

Virginia is coming off its second-worst loss in the Tony Bennett era and looks for its first true road win of the year, losing 75-72 at Green Bay (Dec. 7) and 87-52 at Tennessee (Dec. 30). The Cavaliers are 3-2 away from John Paul Jones Arena, including a pair of wins in Corpus Christi, Texas (SMU and Missouri State) and a neutral-site win over Davidson in Charlotte.

The Cavaliers’ success has been highlighted by their fifth-ranked defense, rebounding and balanced scoring. The Cavaliers are yielding 56.7 points per game and grabbing 55.5 percent of the rebounds, ruling the glass in 10 of 13 games and enjoying a +8.5 average rebound margin per game. UVa also ranks 18th in the nation in field goal percentage defense at 38 percent.

The Cavaliers are averaging 64.8 points per game, marking their second-highest total under head coach Tony Bennett. Virginia is averaging 26.2 bench points and has outscored its opponents 362-270 in the paint. UVa sports a balanced scoring attack, led by All-ACC performer Joe Harris at 11.1 points per game. Malcolm Brogdon is second at 9.5 points and has added a team-leading 1.2 steals per game. Versatile performer Justin Anderson, who has led Virginia in scoring in each of the last three games, has recorded 9.3 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. Anthony Gill, who has led the team in scoring in four games, has registered 8.8 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. Mike Tobey, who had 10 points and seven rebounds at Tennessee, has chipped in 7.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, while Akil Mitchell has added 6.1 points and a team-best 5.5 rebounds per game. Freshman point guard London Perrantes leads the Cavaliers with 3.2 assists per game.

 

Up Next

Virginia hosts Wake Forest in ACC action on Wednesday, Jan. 8. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for7 p.m.