Game Notes: Virginia hosts No. 7 Duke Wednesday night

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Virginia (17-10, 11-6 ACC) hosts No. 7 Duke (23-4, 13-3 ACC) in ACC action on Wednesday, Feb 23. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN.

For Openers

• UVA (11-6) is tied for fifth in the ACC, while Duke (13-3) is first.
• Virginia defeated Duke 69-68 in the first meeting between the teams earlier this month in Durham.
• The Cavaliers aim for their first two-game regular season sweep over Duke since 1994-95.
• UVA has not won back-to-back games vs. Duke since winning four straight from March 12, 1994-Jan. 13, 1996.
• UVA is 1-1 vs. ranked opponents in 2021-22.

Broadcast Information

• The Virginia-Duke 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 312-113 (.734) mark in 13 seasons at UVA and 381-146 (.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 160-68 (.702) in ACC play (90-23 at home & 70-45 away), 177-34 (.839) at home and 152-45 (.772) in non-conference action (86-9 at JPJ) under Bennett.
• Bennett ranks fourth all-time in winning percentage (.702) 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 backcourt of Kihei Clark (9.9 ppg & 4.1 apg) and Reece Beekman (7.7 ppg, 5.0 apg, 3.3 rpg & 2.0 spg), and the additions of transfers Jayden Gardner (15.3 ppg & 7.1 rpg) and Armaan Franklin (11.6 ppg).
• 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.
• Francisco Caffaro (4.7 ppg & 4.4 rpg) and Kadin Shedrick (7.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg & 2.2 bpg) anchor the paint. Shedrick started the first 16 games, while Caffaro has started the last 11 contests.
• Kody Stattmann (37.8% 3FGs), Malachi Poindexter, Taine Murray, Igor Miliĉić Jr. and Carson McCorkle provide perimeter depth off the bench.

Virginia All-Time vs. Duke

• UVA meets Duke for the 176th meeting overall and 76th tilt in Durham in a series that dates back to 1910-11.
• UVA is 53-122 all-time vs. Duke, including a 35-40 home mark.
• UVA is 2-3 in its last five games vs. Duke and 3-7 in its last 10.
• Six of the last eight meetings have been decided by two points or less.
• Head coach Tony Bennett is 5-12 all-time against Duke at UVA.

Last Time vs. The Blue Devils

• Reece Beekman’s 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds remaining lifted Virginia to a 69-68 win at No. 7 Duke on Feb. 7.
• Jayden Gardner scored 17 points and Kadin Shedrick added a career-high 16 points on 8 of 8 shooting to lead the Cavaliers to their 10th all-time win at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
• Armaan Franklin added 11 points, while Kihei Clark had nine assists.
• UVA scored 52 points in the paint and registered 20 points off of 15 Duke turnovers.
• Mark Williams led Duke with 16 points, while Trevor Keels added 12.

Last Time Out

• Jayden Gardner scored 23 points and Kihei Clark added 17 as Virginia recorded a 74-71 win at Miami on Saturday, Feb. 19.
• Kadin Shedrick added 13 points and career-high 13 rebounds for the Cavaliers (17-10, 11-6 ACC).
• Kameron McGusty led Miami with 20 points and four steals.
• Virginia used a 23-4 run to gain a 53-44 second half lead and converted 19 of 25 free throws to complete its first two-game regular season sweep over the Hurricanes.
• Clark became the 50th Cavalier to reach 1,000 career points by scoring 14 points in the second half.

On The Horizon

• Virginia hosts Florida State on Senior Day on Saturday, Feb. 26. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is 4 p.m. on ESPN/2.