Game Notes: Cavaliers battle Demon Deacons Saturday afternoon at JPJ

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Virginia (10-6, 4-2 ACC) hosts Wake Forest (13-4, 3-3 ACC) in ACC action on Saturday, Jan. 15. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 4:30 p.m. on Regional Sports Networks.

For Openers

• Virginia (10-6, 4-2 ACC) hosts Wake Forest (13-4, 3-3) in the lone meeting between the teams in 2021-22.
• UVA’s Reece Beekman is averaging 10.8 points, 4.0 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists over the past five games.
• Wake Forest’s Alondes Williams leads the ACC in scoring at 20.7 points per game.

Broadcast Information

• The Virginia-Wake Forest 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 available on VirginiaSports.com and Virginia Sports app.

The Head Coach

• Dean and Markel Families Head Men’s Basketball Coach Tony Bennett has a 305-109 (.737) mark in 13 seasons at UVA and 374-142 (.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 153-64 (.705) in ACC play (86-22 at home & 67-42 away), 173-33 (.840) at home and 152-45 (.772) in non-conference action (86-9 at JPJ) under Bennett.
• Bennett ranks third all-time in winning percentage (.705) among ACC head coaches with 100 or more ACC wins.

Hoo Are These Cavaliers?

• UVA is led by its returning backcourt of Kihei Clark (9.6 ppg & 3.9 apg) and Reece Beekman (7.6 ppg, 4.4 apg, 3.9 rpg & 2.1 spg), and the additions of transfers Jayden Gardner (14.3 ppg & 7.4 rpg) and Armaan Franklin (12.2 ppg).
• Clark has played 109 games at UVA and is averaging a career high in 3-point percentage (40.3%).
• 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 (5.9 ppg, 5.3 rpg & 2.75 bpg) and Francisco Caffaro (4 ppg & 3.3 rpg) anchor the paint, while Kody Stattmann (39.1% 3FGs), Taine Murray (42.1% 3FGs), Igor Miliĉić Jr. (38.1% 3FGs) and Carson McCorkle (33.3% 3FGs) provide perimeter depth.

Virginia All-Time vs. Wake Forest

• Virginia is 69-70 all-time vs. Wake Forest, including a 42-21 mark in Charlottesville, in the series that dates back to 1910-11.
• UVA has won nine straight and 10 of the last 11 meetings in the series, including a 70-61 win last season at John Paul Jones Arena.
• The Cavaliers road game at Wake Forest last season (Dec. 16, 2020) was postponed due to COVID-19 issues within UVA’s program.
• The Cavaliers have scored 65 or more points in seven of their last nine games (all wins) vs. the Demon Deacons.
• UVA has won the last six meetings between the teams in Charlottesville.
• Tony Bennett is 10-4 vs. Wake Forest as head coach at Virginia.

Last Time vs. The Demon Deacons

• Sam Hauser tallied 16 points and 11 rebounds to guide then-No. 22 Virginia to a 70-61 win over Wake Forest on Jan. 6, 2021.
• Reece Beekman added then-career highs in points (12) and steals (5), and Trey Murphy (13 points), Jay Huff (11 points) and Kihei Clark (10) also reached double figures.
• Wake Forest led 39-34 on 62.5 percent shooting in the first half, but UVA outscored the Demon Deacons 36-22 in the second stanza.

Last Time Out

• The Cavaliers (10-6, 3-2 ACC) held Virginia Tech (8-7, 0-4 ACC) scoreless in the in the final 3:13 and the Hokies missed a pair of potential game-winning 3-pointers as Virginia held on to win 54-52 in the Smithfield Commonwealth Clash on Jan. 12.
• UVA center Francisco Caffaro scored a career-high 16 points and grabbed a career-high nine rebounds to lead the Cavaliers.
• Armaan Franklin (15 points) and Reece Beekman (11 points) also scored in double figures for Virginia.
• The Cavalier defense forced a dozen Virginia Tech turnovers, which turned into 14 points on the opposite end of the floor.
• Virginia, which concluded the night with 18 bench points, also held the Hokies’ non-starters to just two points.
• Keve Aluma led the Hokies with 22 points.

On The Horizon

• Virginia travels to Pitt for an ACC contest on Wednesday, Jan. 19. Tipoff at Petersen Events Center is set for 9 p.m. on ACC Network.