Game Notes: Virginia closes regular season at Louisville

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Virginia (17-12, 11-8 ACC) concludes its regular season slate at Louisville (12-17, 6-13 ACC) on Saturday, March 5. Tipoff at KFC Yum! Center is set for noon on ESPN2.

For Openers

• UVA (11-8) is tied for sixth in the ACC, while Louisville (6-13) is tied for 11th.

A Win at Louisville Would Give UVA

• 18 or more wins for the 11th straight year.
• The No. 6 seed in the ACC Tournament.
• 12 or more ACC wins for the fourth straight year.
• A .500 or better road record (6-6) for the sixth straight year.
• A two-game sweep over the Cardinals.
• An 8-2 record at KFC Yum! Center.

Broadcast Information

• The Virginia-Louisville game will be televised on ESPN2 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 312-115 (.731) mark in 13 seasons at UVA and 381-148 (.720) 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 160-70 (.696) in ACC play (90-25 at home & 70-45 away), 177-36 (.831) at home and 152-45 (.772) in non-conference action (86-9 at JPJ) under Bennett.
• Bennett ranks fifth all-time in winning percentage (.696) among ACC head coaches with 100 or more ACC wins.

Hoo Are These Cavaliers?

• UVA is led by its backcourt of Kihei Clark (10.3 ppg & 4.2 apg) and Reece Beekman (7.9 ppg, 4.9 apg, 3.4 rpg & 2.0 spg), and the additions of transfers Jayden Gardner (15.5 ppg & 7.0 rpg) and Armaan Franklin (11.4 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 (4.6 ppg & 4.7 rpg) and Kadin Shedrick (6.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg & 2.1 bpg) anchor the paint. Shedrick started the first 16 games, while Caffaro has started the last 13 contests.
• Kody Stattmann (36.7% 3FGs), Malachi Poindexter, Taine Murray, Igor Miliĉić Jr. and Carson McCorkle provide perimeter depth off the bench.

Virginia All-Time vs. Louisville

• Virginia is 18-5 all-time vs. Louisville in a series that began in 1923-24.
• UVA has a three-game winning streak vs. Louisville and has won 12 of the last 13 meetings.
• UVA is 12-2 vs. the Cardinals in ACC action.
• UVA has held Louisville to 59 or fewer points in 11 of 15 contests since the Cardinals joined the ACC in 2014-15.
• Tony Bennett is 13-2 vs. Louisville as head coach at Virginia.

Last Time vs. The Cardinals

• Kihei Clark tallied 15 points to lead Virginia to a 64-52 win over Louisville on Jan. 24 at John Paul Jones Arena.
• Jayden Gardner added 14 points and Kadin Shedrick (11) and Armaan Franklin (10) reached double figures for the Cavaliers, who improved to 12-8, 6-4 ACC.
• UVA jumped to a 22-5 lead and shot 47.1 percent (24 of 51) in its third straight win over the Cardinals.
• Reece Beekman handed out a career-high 11 assists.
• UVA outrebounded Louisville 37-26.
• Jarrod West led Louisville (11-9, 5-5 ACC) with 14 points.

Last Time Out

• Matthew Cleveland drained a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer to send Florida State (15-13, 8-10 ACC) to a 64-63 win over Virginia (17-12, 11-8) on Feb. 26 at John Paul Jones Arena.
• Armaan Franklin’s (13 points) pull-up jumper with one second left gave the Cavaliers a 63-61 lead.
• Cleveland (20 points) scored the Seminoles’ final eight points.
• Jayden Gardner led UVA with 21 points and Francisco Caffaro pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.
• FSU shot 47.4 percent and won the rebound battle 34-32.

On The Horizon

• Virginia will compete at the ACC Tournament from March 9-12 in Brooklyn, N.Y.