Cavaliers travel to Syracuse for New Year’s Day tilt

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Virginia (7-5, 1-1 ACC) travels to Syracuse (7-5, 1-0) for an ACC contest on Saturday, Jan. 1. Tipoff at Carrier Dome is set for 6 p.m. on ACC Network.

For Openers

• Virginia (7-5, 1-1 ACC) begins a three-game road swing at Syracuse.
• UVA has a two-game winning streak against the Orange.
• UVA held Syracuse to 34 points in its last visit to Carrier Dome on Nov. 6, 2019, marking an all-time low for the Orange in a game at the Carrier Dome.
• The 34 points were Syracuse’s lowest since a 49-28 loss to Sampson Navy on Jan. 13, 1945 (Sampson Navy was a team from a military base during the war years).
• UVA ranks eighth nationally in scoring defense (56.2 ppg), 13th in personal fouls per game (13.5) and 21st in turnovers per game (10.5).
• UVA has limited its foes to 49.6 points per game, 33.1 percent field goal shooting and 25 percent 3-point shooting in its seven wins.

Broadcast Information

• The Virginia-Syracuse 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 302-108 (.737) mark in 13 seasons at UVA and 371-141 (.725) 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 150-63 (.704) in ACC play (85-22 at home & 65-41 away), 171-33 (.838) at home and 152-45 (.772) in non-conference action (86-9 at JPJ) under Bennett.
• Bennett ranks third all-time in winning percentage (.704) among ACC head coaches with 100 or more ACC wins.

Hoo Are These Cavaliers?

• UVA is led by its returning backcourt of Kihei Clark (9.5 ppg & 4.1 apg) and Reece Beekman (7.3 ppg, 4.3 apg & 2.2 spg), and the additions of transfers Jayden Gardner (14.8 ppg & 8.1 rpg) and Armaan Franklin (11.5 ppg).
• Clark has played 105 games at UVA and is averaging career-highs in field goal percentage (42%) and 3-point percentage (40.4%).
• 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 (6.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg & 2.9 bpg) and Francisco Caffaro (3.5 rpg) anchor the paint, while Taine Murray (46.7% 3FGs), Igor Miliĉić Jr. (38.1% 3FGs), Carson McCorkle (33.3% 3FGs), Malachi Poindexter and Kody Stattmann provide perimeter depth.

Virginia All-Time vs. Syracuse

• UVA is 10-6 all-time against Syracuse, including an 8-2 mark in ACC action, in the series that dates back to 1983-84.
• Virginia defeated twice last season, defeating the Orange 81-58 at John Paul Jones Arena and 72-69 at the ACC Tournament in Greensboro, N.C.
• UVA is 4-2 at Syracuse, including a 48-34 win in its last trip to Carrier Dome on Nov. 6, 2019.
• UVA has held the Orange to 69 or fewer points in each of the last 12 meetings between the teams.
• Head coach Tony Bennett is 9-3 all-time against Syracuse.

Last Time vs. The Orange

• Reece Beekman’s 3-pointer at the buzzer gave No. 1 seed Virginia a 72-69 win over No. 8 seed Syracuse in the ACC quarterfinals on Thursday, March 11, 2021.
• Sam Hauser led the Cavaliers with 21 points, while Jay Huff had his 10th career double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
• Trey Murphy III chipped in 15 points and Kihei Clark added 10 points and a game-high six assists.
• UVA shot 45.5 percent and attempted a season-high 35 3-pointers.
• UVA outrebounded the Orange 33-30.
• Buddy Boeheim had a game-high 31 points for Syracuse.

Last Time Out

• Hunter Tyson had 17 points to lead Clemson to a 57-40 win over Virginia on Dec. 22 at John Paul Jones Arena.
• The home loss was UVA’s largest since Feb. 26, 2011, when Boston College defeated the Cavaliers, 63-44.
• Reece Beekman led Virginia with a career-high 20 points.
• Clemson held a 17-0 advantage in bench points and scored 24 points off 14 UVA turnovers.
• UVA was 6 of 22 from 3-point range and was outrebounded 35-26 by the Tigers.

On The Horizon

• Virginia travels to Clemson on Tuesday, Jan. 4. Tipoff at Littlejohn Coliseum is set for 9 p.m. on Regional Sports Networks.