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Virginia earns #1 national seed, faces UMBC on Friday in Charlotte

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uva basketballACC regular-season and tournament champion Virginia is the NCAA Tournament’s overall No. 1 seed and top seed in the NCAA South Region.

UVA will make its school-record fifth straight and 22nd overall NCAA Tournament appearance. The No. 1 seed marks the third in the past five seasons and sixth overall for the Cavaliers.

The Cavaliers will face No. 16 seed UMBC (24-10) in an NCAA Tournament first-round game on Friday, March 16 at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C. Tipoff time and the television information is still to be announced.

The winner of the Virginia’s first-round game will meet No. 8 seed Creighton (21-11) or No. 9 seed Kansas State (22-11) in the second round on Sunday, March 18.

The other pod of teams competing in Charlotte includes squads from the West Region. Those matchups are No. 2 seed North Carolina (25-10) vs. No. 15 seed Lipscomb (23-9) and No. 7 seed Texas A&M (20-12) vs. No. 10 seed Providence (21-13).

This is Virginia’s sixth NCAA Tournament appearance under three-time National and ACC Coach of the Year Tony Bennett. The Cavaliers have compiled an all-time record of 29-21 in 21 NCAA tournaments. UVA advanced to the NCAA Final Four in 1981 and 1984.

The Cavaliers advanced to the NCAA second round last year after earning a No. 5 seed. The Cavaliers advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight in 2016, NCAA third round in 2015 and NCAA Sweet 16 in 2014.

Ticket Information

The NCAA provides a limited number of tickets to schools participating in the NCAA tournament first and second rounds. As a result, ticket requests are limited to Virginia Athletics Foundation donors and Virginia men’s basketball season ticket holders in UVA’s block at Spectrum Center.

Ticket requests for NCAA Tournament first and second-round games will begin online at VirginiaSports.com at 9 p.m. on Sunday, March 11. Donors eligible to request tickets should use their registered online account. Tickets may also be requested by calling the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office at 1-800-542-8821 on Monday, March 12 from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. The deadline to request tickets is Monday, March 12 at 2 p.m. Requests for the limited number of lower level seats and available upper level seats will be filled according to Virginia Athletics Foundation priority points order. Account holders who receive tickets will be notified by email Monday night with information about the location and hours to pick up tickets in Charlotte, NC.

UVA students may request tickets for NCAA Tournament first and second-round games in Virginia’s ticket block online at UVAShots.com. The online request period will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, March 12. Student tickets will be filled from requests based on Sabre point totals. Students awarded a ticket will be notified by email. Payment will be for one ticket for both the first and second-round games. Students will only receive a ticket to the second round if Virginia wins its game in the preceding round. If Virginia does not advance to the second round, refunds for those tickets will be issued to a student’s credit card in a timely manner. Student orders will be limited to one ticket per student.

Tickets outside of Virginia’s seating block at Spectrum Center may be available to purchase through the arena box office. Visit the Spectrum Center Box Office to review ticket availability and to purchase tickets.

For more information on ticket availability in Virginia’s block throughout the 2018 NCAA Tournament, click here.

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