Wahoo Preview: No. 5 Virginia vs. Maryland-Eastern Shore

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Posted on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022, 1:00 pm

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By Scott Ratcliffe

uva basketball

Photo: UVA Athletics

After a successful weekend in Las Vegas, Virginia returns to John Paul Jones Arena Friday night to face Maryland-Eastern Shore (6 p.m., ACC Network).

The Cavaliers (4-0) jumped 11 spots to No. 5 in the latest AP poll after taking care of then-No. 5 Baylor and then-No. 19 Illinois last week, claiming the Continental Tire Main Event championship belt in the process.

Tournament MVP Reece Beekman led the way for the Wahoos, and was also named ACC Player of the Week after averaging 13.5 points, 6.5 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals against the Bears and Fighting Illini.

Virginia head coach Tony Bennett is a perfect 14-0 against Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opponents, and his UVA teams have posted a record of 76-15 in the month of November across his 14 seasons. Bennett needs just seven more wins to pass Terry Holland (326) as the Cavaliers’ all-time winningest coach.

With 23 more minutes played, UVA’s Kihei Clark would pass Bryant Stith (4,391) for second in school history. London Perrantes holds the top spot with 4,425 minutes. Clatrk also needs 14 points to pass Devin Smith for 43rd on the school’s all-time scoring list.

Clark has played in 132 career games — currently tied with Ralph Sampson, Jim Miller and Isaiah Wilkins for ninth on that list, and if he stays healthy, he should surpass Perrantes and Mike Tobey for first (138) at around the turn of the new year.

UMES (2-3) snapped a two-game skid Wednesday with a 70-59 home win against Marist. The Hawks finished with a record of 11-16 last season (their first double-digit win total since 2016-17) and are 0-3 on the road so far in 2022-23. They’ve lost seven of their last nine games away from home dating back to last season.

UMES hasn’t experienced a winning season since the 2015 campaign. The Hawks were predicted to finish sixth in the MEAC preseason vote. Senior guard Da’Shawn Phillip was named to the All-MEAC second team, while graduate forward Nathaniel Pollard Jr. was selected to the third team.

UMES ranked fifth in the nation in steals and 10th in forced turnovers in 2021-22, and returns eight players from last year’s team, including three senior starters — Phillip (11.0 ppg), Pollard (9.8 ppg, 7.6 rpg) and leading scorer Zion Styles (12.8 ppg).

The Hawks come into tonight’s game ranked 315th overall (out of 363 Division-I schools) in the latest KenPom ratings (345th in adjusted offense; 239th in adjusted defense). Virginia is a 29-point favorite to defeat the Hawks, according to Caesars Sportsbook.