Virginia Seeks No. 3 ACC Tournament Seed Saturday vs. Georgia Tech
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia (21-9, 12-7 ACC) concludes regular-season action by hosting Georgia Tech (14-16, 7-12 ACC) on Saturday (March 9). Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 8 p.m. on ACC Network and Virginia Sports Radio Network.
For Openers
• Virginia (21-9) is third in the ACC at 12-7, while Georgia Tech (14-16) is tied for 11th at 7-12.
• UVA will honor Reece Beekman, Tristan How, Jordan Minor and Jake Groves and student managers Joe Busch, Brian Rodgers and Wayne Yen in pregame Senior Day ceremonies.
• Beekman became UVA’s all-time steals leader at Duke.
• UVA has clinched a double-bye for the ACC Tournament and will earn the No. 3 seed at the ACC Tournament with a victory.
• UVA has scored fewer than 50 points in six contests, most since eight in 1947-48.
Broadcast Information
• The Virginia-Georgia Tech game will be televised on ESPN and streamed on 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 362-134 mark in 15 seasons at UVA and 431-167 career mark in 18 seasons as a head coach.
Bennett passed the late Terry Holland (326-173, 16 seasons) as UVA’s winningest coach with the win over Syracuse (1/7/23) and recorded his 400th 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.
• 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.
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 (14.1 ppg, 5.9 apg, 3.5 rpg & 2.1 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, recorded three steals at Duke to pass Othell Wilson (222 steals from 1981-84) for first all-time at UVA.
• Ryan Dunn (8.4 ppg) leads UVA in rebounding (7.0 rpg), and blocked shots (2.4 bpg), and team-high five double-doubles.
• Isaac McKneely (12.2 ppg) leads the team in 3-pointers (69) and 3-point percentage (45.1%).
• 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.
• Jordan Minor (4.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg), Jake Groves (7.3 ppg, 48.3% 3FG), Andrew Rohde (4.4 ppg & 2.8 apg), Blake Buchanan (3.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg), Dante Harris (2.5 ppg), Taine Murray (2.7 ppg, 46.4% 3FG), Leon Bond III (4.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg) and Elijah Gertrude (3.5 ppg), are main contributors.
• UVA is 10-5 with Minor in the starting lineup.
• Harris missed 10 games with an ankle injury, and Gertrude had his redshirt lifted against Texas A&M.
• UVA is averaging 63.2 points and shooting 43.4 percent from the field, 36.2 percent from 3-point range and 64.9 percent from the free throw line.
Hoos in the National Rankings
UVA ranks second nationally in turnovers per game (8.3), third in scoring defense (59.1 ppg) and assist/turnover ratio (1.80), ninth in turnover margin (4.0), 11th in fouls per game (13.7), 13th in field goal percentage defense (40.0), 15th in blocks per game (5.2) and 38th in 3-point field goal percentage defense (31.1).
All-Time vs. Georgia Tech
• Virginia is 48-40 all-time vs. Georgia Tech, including a 26-11 mark in Charlottesville, in a series that dates to 1947-48.
• The Cavaliers have a 11-game win streak in the series and nine-game home win streak against the Yellow Jackets.
• Georgia Tech’s last win vs. the Cavaliers in the series was a 68-64 victory in Atlanta on Jan. 9, 2016.
• Virginia is 19-2 in its last 21 games against Georgia Tech, including an 18-2 mark under head coach Tony Bennett.
Last Time vs. the Yellow Jackets
• Isaac McKneely scored 20 points and Reece Beekman added 19 points and career-high tying 11 assists to lead Virginia to a 75-66 win at Georgia Tech on Jan. 20, 2024.
• The Cavaliers gained their first road win by shooting 50 percent from the field, including 47.8 percent (11 of 23) from distance.
• McKneely matched a career high with six 3-pointers and Ryan Dunn chipped in nine points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.
• UVA’s 17-0 run spanning halftime ignited the road win.
• Nathan George and Baye Ndongo had 15 points apiece for Georgia Tech.
Last Time Out
• Kyle Filipowski scored 21 points and Tyrese Proctor added 15 to lead then-No. 10 Duke to a 73-48 win over Virginia (21-9, 12-7 ACC) in ACC action on March 2 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
• Reece Beekman led Virginia with 18 points and seven assists and became UVA’s all-time steals leader with three steals.
• Duke raced to a 33-13 first-half lead and never looked back as UVA shot 23.1 percent (17 of 55) in the loss.
• Duke shot 49.2 percent (30 of 61) and out-rebounded Virginia 42-29.
On The Horizon
• Virginia will compete at the ACC Tournament on Thursday, March 14 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.