Men’s notebook: No. 18 Virginia hosts NC Central in season opener

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

No. 18 Virginia hosts North Carolina Central in its 2022-23 season opener on Monday. Tipoff for the nonconference game at John Paul Jones Arena is slated for 9 p.m. on Regional Sports Networks.

For Openers

• UVA begins its 117th season of men’s basketball, sporting a 1,695-1,196 (.586) all-time record.
• Virginia meets North Carolina Central for the first time.
• UVA is 22-2 in its last 24 season-opening games.
• Navy ended Virginia’s eight-game winning streak on opening night with its 66-58 win in Charlottesville last season.
• UVA is 11-2 in season openers under head coach Tony Bennett.
• The Cavaliers are 94-23 all-time in 117 season-opening games.
• UVA is 87-10 at JPJ in non-conference action under Bennett.

Broadcast Information

• The Virginia-NC Central game will be televised on Regional Sports Networks
• 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 316-117 (.730) mark in 13 seasons at UVA and 385-150 (.720) career mark in 16 seasons as a head coach.
• Bennett needs 11 wins to pass Terry Holland (326-173, 16 seasons) as the all-time winningest coach at UVA.
• Bennett needs 15 wins to reach 400 career wins.
• Bennett has guided the Cavaliers to five ACC regular-season titles (2014, 2015, 2018, 2019 and 2021), two ACC Tournament titles (2014 and 2018) and one NCAA national championship (2019) in 13 seasons on Grounds.
• 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 10th consecutive postseason berth in 2021-22.

ABOUT THE CAVALIERS

• We play defense, take quality shots, pass the basketball, limit turnovers and transition points, rebound and play more defense.
• UVA returns all five starters – Kihei Clark (10 ppg, 4.4 apg), Reece Beekman (8.2 ppg, 5.2 apg, 2.1), Jayden Gardner (15.3 ppg, 6.4 rpg), Kadin Shedrick (6.9 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.9 bpg) and Armaan Franklin (11.1 ppg) from last season’s NIT team.
• Clark needs 11 games, 25 starts, 181 minutes and 145 assists to become the all-time leader at UVA in those categories.
• Last season, Beekman became the first ACC player since Grant Hill (1993-94) to register at least 175 assists, 50 steals and 25 blocks in a season.
• Beekman joined UNC’s Ty Lawson (2008-09), NC State’s Chris Corchiani (1988-89) and Sidney Lowe (1980-81 & 1982-83), and Wake Forest’s Muggsy Bogues (1984-85) to lead the ACC in assists (5.2 apg), steals (2.1 spg) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.62).
• Gardner ranks fifth in career points (1,999) and rebounds (928) among active NCAA Division I players.
• Shedrick registered three doubles and led the team with 67 blocks.
• Franklin shot 46.3 percent from 3-point range (19 of 41) over the last nine games of 2021-22.
• Center Francisco Caffaro and guard Taine Murray provide experience off the bench, while newcomers Isaac McKneely, Isaac Traudt, Ryan Dunn and Leon Bond III will compete for immediate playing time.

There’s No Place Like Home

• Virginia is 216-53 (.803), including an 11-7 mark in 2021-22, in 16 seasons at John Paul Jones Arena.
• UVA was 10-1 at JPJ in 2020-21 and is 177-37 (.827), including a 143-22 (.867) mark the past 10 seasons, under Bennett.
• UVA is an ACC-leading 78-13 (.857) in league home games over the past 10 seasons. Duke is second at 77-14 (.846).
• UVA has won 10 or more home games for 13 straight years.

UVA Ranked No. 18 in AP Poll

• UVA is ranked No. 18 in the Associated Press preseason poll.
• UVA is ranked in the preseason AP top 25 for the fifth straight year and ninth in the last 10 seasons under Tony Bennett.

On The Horizon

• No. 18 Virginia hosts Monmouth in nonconference action on Friday, Nov. 14. Tipoff is set for 9 p.m. on RSN.