CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (VirginiaSports.com) – Virginia (9-5, 3-1 ACC) travels to North Carolina (10-4, 2-1) for an ACC contest on Saturday, Jan. 8. Tipoff at Smith Center is set for 1 p.m. on ESPN.
For Openers• UVA owns a seven-game winning streak against the Tar Heels.
• UVA aims for its first three-game ACC road winning streak since defeating Notre Dame, Boston College and Clemson (12/30/20-1/16/21) last season.
Broadcast Information• The Virginia-North Carolina game will be televised on ESPN and streamed online at WatchESPN.com and ESPN App.
• The game will also be broadcast on Virginia Sports Radio Network, VirginiaSports.com and Virginia Sports app.
• Live statistics will be available on VirginiaSports.com and Virginia Sports app.
The Head Coach
• Dean and Markel Families Head Men’s Basketball Coach Tony Bennett has a 304-108 (.739) mark in 13 seasons at UVA and 373-141 (.726) career mark in 16 seasons as a head coach.
• Bennett won his 300th game at Virginia with the 61-43 victory against Lehigh on Nov. 26, 2021.
• The three-time National (2007, 2015 and 2018) and four-time ACC Coach of the Year (2014, 2015, 2018 and 2019) guided the Cavaliers to their 10th ACC regular-season championship in 2020-21.
• In 2018-19, Bennett led the Cavaliers to their first NCAA national championship, a share of their ninth ACC regular-season title and a school-record 35 wins.
• Bennett has led UVA to 10 consecutive postseason appearances (2012-21) and seven consecutive NCAA tournaments (2014-21).
• UVA is 152-63 (.707) in ACC play (85-22 at home & 67-41 away), 171-33 (.838) at home and 152-45 (.772) in non-conference action (86-9 at JPJ) under Bennett.
Bennett ranks third all-time in winning percentage (.707) among ACC head coaches with 100 or more ACC wins.
Hoo Are These Cavaliers?• The Cavaliers play defense, take good shots, share and take care of the basketball, rebound, and play more defense.
• UVA is led by its returning backcourt of Kihei Clark (9.9 ppg & 4.2 apg) and Reece Beekman (6.9 ppg, 4.4 apg & 2.1 spg), and the additions of transfers Jayden Gardner (15.4 ppg & 7.6 rpg) and Armaan Franklin (12 ppg).
• Clark has played 107 games at UVA and is averaging career-highs in field goal percentage (43.4%) and 3-point percentage (42.1%).
• The Cavaliers added transfers Gardner (East Carolina) and Franklin (Indiana) to fill the void left by standouts Sam Hauser (16 ppg), Jay Huff (13 ppg) and Trey Murphy III (11.3 ppg).
• Gardner averaged 18.5 points and 8.9 rebounds in 79 career games at East Carolina, while Franklin averaged 11.4 points and shot 42.5 percent from 3-point range in 2020-21.
• Kadin Shedrick (6.8 ppg, 5.6 rpg & 2.9 bpg) and Francisco Caffaro (3.1 rpg) anchor the paint, while Kody Stattmann (33.3% 3FGs), Taine Murray (44.4% 3FGs), Igor Miliĉić Jr. (38.1% 3FGs), Carson McCorkle (33.3% 3FGs), Malachi Poindexter and provide perimeter depth.
Virginia All-Time vs. North Carolina• UVA is 60-131 all-time vs. North Carolina in the series that began in 1910-11.
• UVA is 9-66 all-time against the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, including a 7-24 mark at Smith Center.
• UVA’s seven-game winning streak in the series is its longest in the series since winning the first eight games between the teams from 1911-16.
• The Cavaliers have won nine of the last 10 regular-season meetings between the teams, including a 60-48 meeting last season at John Paul Jones Arena.
• UVA has a two-game road winning streak in the series and Tony Bennett has recorded four of UVA’s seven wins at Smith Center.
• UVA is 8-3 in its last 11 games against UNC.
• Bennett is 12-8 all-time vs. North Carolina, including a loss as head coach of Washington State in the 2008 NCAA Sweet 16.
Last Time vs. The Tar Heels• Jay Huff had 18 points and 12 rebounds as then-No. 9 Virginia beat North Carolina 60-48 at John Paul Jones Arena on Feb. 13, 2021.
• Sam Hauser added 17 points and Trey Murphy III chipped in 12 as the Cavaliers improved to 15-3, 11-1 ACC.
• UVA jumped to a 21-4 advantage and held the Tar Heels to 2 of 16 3-point shooting.
Walker Kessler led UNC (12-7, 7-5) with nine points, first time no Tar Heel scored in double figures since March 4, 1966.
Last Time Out• Jayden Gardner scored a game-high 23 points to lead Virginia (9-5, 3-1 ACC) to an ACC road win at Clemson on Jan. 4.
• Gardner went 7 of 11 from the field and 9 of 10 from the line.
• Armaan Franklin added 13 points and four players (Kihei Clark, Reece Beekman, Kadin Shedrick and Francisco Caffaro) each added eight points.
• UVA shot 54.3 percent and drilled 21 of 24 free throws.
• The Hoos outrebounded the Tigers 28-23.
• Hunter Tyson led four Tigers in double figures with 15 points.
On The Horizon
• Virginia hosts Virginia Tech in a Commonwealth Clash on Wednesday, Jan. 12. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 9 p.m.
