CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia (6-1) hosts Syracuse (5-2) in its ACC opener on Saturday (Dec. 2). Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for Noon on ESPN2 and Virginia Sports Radio Network.
For Openers
• Virginia opens its 71st season of ACC action vs. Syracuse.
• The Cavaliers have a 15-game winning streak in ACC openers and are 14-0 in ACC openers under head coach Tony Bennett.
• Virginia is 35-35 all-time in ACC openers.
• Kihei Clark scored a game-high 18 points to lead Virginia to a 62-57 win over Florida State in last season’s season opener.
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-Syracuse game will be televised on ESPN2 and streamed online at WatchESPN.com.
• The game will also be broadcast on Virginia Sports Radio Network, VirginiaSports.com and Virginia Sports app.
• Live statistics will be located on VirginiaSports.com and the Virginia Sports app.
The Head Coach
• Dean and Markel Families Head Men’s Basketball Coach Tony Bennett has a 347-126 (.734) mark in 15 seasons at UVA and 416-159 (.723) career mark in 18 seasons as a head coach.
• Bennett passed Terry Holland (326-173, 16 seasons) as UVA’s all-time winningest coach with the win over Syracuse (1/7/23).
• Bennett recorded his 400th career win at Wake Forest (1/21/23).
• Bennett has guided the Cavaliers to six ACC regular-season titles (2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023), two ACC Tournament titles (2014 and 2018) and one NCAA national championship (2019).
• The three-time National (2007, 2015 and 2018) and four-time ACC Coach of the Year (2014, 2015, 2018 and 2019) guided UVA to its 11th consecutive postseason berth in 2022-23.
Hoo Are These Cavaliers?
• We play defense, take quality shots, pass the basketball, limit turnovers and transition points, rebound and play more defense.
• UVA returns one starter – Reece Beekman (11.9 ppg, 5.7 apg, 3.3 rpg & 2.9 spg) – from last season’s ACC regular-season champion and NCAA tournament team that finished 25-8.
• Beekman, who earned All-ACC third-team honors last season, needs 43 steals to pass Othell Wilson (222 steals from 1981-84) for first all-time at UVA.
• Ryan Dunn (10.6 ppg) leads the team in rebounding (6.7 rpg), steals (2.9 spg) and blocked shots (2.9 bpg).
• Isaac McKneely (9.8 ppg) leads the team in 3-pointers (13) and 3-point percentage (48.1%).
• McKneely averaged 6.7 points and shot a team-best 39.2 percent from 3-point range last year, while Dunn tallied 2.6 points and 2.9 rebounds in 12.9 minutes per game.
• Jake Groves (8.6 ppg), Andrew Rohde (7.0 ppg), Leon Bond III (6.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 58.3% FG), Blake Buchanan (4.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg), Dante Harris (3.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg), Taine Murray (2.7 ppg, 40% 3FG) and Jordan Minor (1.7 ppg, 1.7 rpg) are main contributors.
• Elijah Gertrude had his redshirt lifted against Texas A&M.
• UVA is shooting 44 percent from the field, 35.7 percent from 3-point range and 68.2 percent from the free throw line.
• UVA has committed just 60 turnovers and has 1.65 assist/turnover ratio.
All-Time vs. Syracuse
• UVA is 13-6 all-time against Syracuse, including an 11-2 mark in ACC action, in the series that dates to 1983-84.
• Virginia has a five-game winning streak against the Orange, including a pair of wins last season (73-66 in Charlottesville and 67-62 at Syracuse).
• UVA is 5-2 vs. Syracuse at John Paul Jones Arena.
• UVA has held the Orange to 69 or fewer points in each of the last 15 meetings between the teams.
• Head coach Tony Bennett is 12-3 all-time against Syracuse.
Last Time vs. the Orange
• Jayden Gardner scored 17 points to lead then-No. 6 Virginia to a road win at Syracuse 67-62 on Jan. 30, 2023.
• Kihei Clark added 12 points and a game-high 10 assists for his third career double-double as the Cavaliers gained their fifth consecutive win vs. the Orange.
• Gardner drew a charge with 60 seconds remaining and hit a midrange jumper that put UVA ahead 66-62.
• Armaan Franklin added 12 points, including a pair of huge 3-pointers in the second half.
• Virginia shot 46 percent, including 42.9 percent from 3-point range, and outrebounded the Orange 29-25.
• Judah Mintz led Syracuse (13-10, 6-6 ACC) with 20 points.
Last Time Out
• Virginia topped No. 14 Texas A&M 59-47 in the inaugural ACC-SEC Challenge on Wednesday, Nov. 29 at John Paul Jones Arena.
• Andrew Rohde led five starters in double figures with a season-high 13 points, while Jake Groves, Ryan Dunn and Reece Beekman chipped in 12 points each.
• UVA (6-1) limited TAMU to 30.4 percent shooting, including 17.4 percent from 3-point range (4 of 23).
• Dunn matched a career high with five blocked shots.
Hoos in the National Rankings
• UVA ranks second nationally in scoring defense (52.9 ppg), third in field goal percentage defense (34.6), fifth in turnovers per game (8.6) and blocks per game (6.6), 12th in turnover margin (6.3), 15th in fouls per game (13.6), 23rd in assist/turnover ratio (1.70), 36th in 3-point percentage defense (27.2)and 38th in steals per game (9.3).
Stock Up
• UVA has totaled 111 stocks (65 steals + 46 blocks).
• UVA is averaging a school-record 15.8 stocks per game (6.6 blocks and 9.3 steals) since 1976 when steals and blocks were first recorded at Virginia and 1985-86 when recognized by the NCAA.
• The school-record for stocks in a season is 13.77 in 1998-99.
• UVA is on pace to break school records for blocks (5.53 bpg in 1979-80) and steals (8.77 spg in 1999-2000).
• UVA averaged 11.1 stocks per game last season (6.8 steals + 4.3 blocks).
• Ryan Dunn leads UVA with 40 stocks, ranking fourth nationally in blocks (2.9 bpg) and 11th in steals (2.9 spg).
• Dunn is the lone player in NCAA Division I ranked in the top 50 in both steals and blocks.
• Reece Beekman is tied for 11th in steals with Dunn at 2.9 per game.
Virginia Receives Votes in Latest AP Poll
• UVA received votes in the latest AP top-25 poll.
• UVA was ranked No. 24 in the Nov. 20 AP poll.
• The Hoos earned votes in the preseason top-25 poll.
• UVA was not ranked in the AP preseason top-25 poll for the first time since 2017-18 when it received votes.
• Prior to this year, UVA was ranked in the preseason AP top-25 five consecutive seasons and nine of the last 10 seasons under Tony Bennett.
On The Horizon
• Virginia hosts North Carolina Central on Tuesday, Dec. 5. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 7 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.
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