Game Notes: Virginia faces Pitt on Wednesday

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Virginia (10-7, 4-3 ACC) plays at Pitt (7-10, 2-4 ACC) in ACC action on Wednesday, Jan. 19. Tipoff at Petersen Events Center is set for 9 p.m.

For Openers

• Virginia (10-7, 4-3 ACC) defeated Pitt (7-10, 2-4 ACC) 57-56 in the first meeting between the teams on Dec. 3 at John Paul Jones Arena.
• UVA’s Armaan Franklin is averaging 15 points on 48.3 percent shooting from the field the past five games.
• UVA is averaging 66.7 points on 47.4 percent shooting in its 10 wins, while yielding 53.3 points on 35.6 percent shooting for its opponents.

Broadcast Information

• The Virginia-Pitt game will be televised on ACC Network 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 305-110 (.735) mark in 13 seasons at UVA and 374-143 (.723) 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 153-65 (.702) in ACC play (86-23 at home & 67-42 away), 173-34 (.836) at home and 152-45 (.772) in non-conference action (86-9 at JPJ) under Bennett.
• Bennett ranks third all-time in winning percentage (.702) among ACC head coaches with 100 or more ACC wins.

Hoo Are These Cavaliers?

• UVA is led by its returning backcourt of Kihei Clark (9.2 ppg & 3.9 apg) and Reece Beekman (7.5 ppg, 4.6 apg, 3.6 rpg & 2.2 spg), and the additions of transfers Jayden Gardner (14 ppg & 7.2 rpg) and Armaan Franklin (12.5 ppg).
• Clark has played 110 games at UVA and is averaging a career high in 3-point percentage (40 %).
• 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 (5.8 ppg, 5.2 rpg & 2.71 bpg) and Francisco Caffaro (4.1 ppg & 3.5 rpg) anchor the paint, while Kody Stattmann (40.7% 3FGs), Taine Murray (42.1% 3FGs), Igor Miliĉić Jr. (36.4% 3FGs) and Carson McCorkle (33.3% 3FGs) provide perimeter depth.

Virginia All-Time vs. Pitt

• Virginia is 18-4 all-time vs. Pitt in the series that dates back to 1957-58.
• UVA has won seven straight contests vs. the Panthers, including a 57-56 win on Dec. 3, 2021, at John Paul Jones Arena.
• Virginia has won 14 of the last 15 games against Pitt, including a 7-3 record in Pittsburgh.
• UVA is 11-1 against Pitt since 2013-14 when the Panthers joined the ACC.
• The Cavaliers have a two-game winning streak against the Panthers at Petersen Events Center.
• Tony Bennett is 11-2 all-time vs. Pitt.

Last Time vs. The Panthers

• Jayden Gardner’s step-back jumper with 0.9 seconds remaining lifted Virginia (6-3, 1-0 ACC) to an improbable 57-56 win over Pitt (2-6, 0-1 ACC) on Dec. 3 at John Paul Jones Arena.
• Gardner’s 3-point play with 9.7 seconds and ensuing five second in-bounds violation on Pitt set up the game-winner which came off a rebound on a Taine Murray missed 3-pointer.
• Gardner finished with a game-high 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting, tallied five rebounds and tied his career high of four assists.
• Armaan Franklin had 10 points and Kihei Clark added nine.
• UVA had a season-high 18 assists.
• John Hugley led the Panthers with 12 points.

Last Time Out

• Wake Forest (14-4, 4-3 ACC) outscored Virginia (10-7, 4-3 ACC) 36-26 in the second half as the Demon Deacons held on to win 63-55 at John Paul Jones Arena on Jan. 15.
• Wake Forest shot 45 percent (23-51 FG) from the field, while the Cavaliers shot 36 percent (21-58 FG).
• Virginia was active on both ends of the floor, tallying 10 steals and 17 assists, but a 13-0 run by the Demon Deacons in the second half proved to be the difference in the game.
• UVA suffered a 6:48 scoring drought in the second half.
• Armaan Franklin scored a game-high 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including 3-for-5 from 3-point range.
• Kody Stattmann tied his career high of 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting.
• Reece Beekman, the ACC’s leader in steals per game, tallied five steals in the loss.

On The Horizon

• Virginia travels to NC State for an ACC contest on Saturday, Jan. 22. Tipoff at PNC Arena is set for 4 p.m. on ACC Network.