Men’s notebook: No. 18 Cavaliers host Monmouth at 9 p.m.

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

No. 18 Virginia hosts Monmouth in nonconference action on Friday. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 9 p.m. on Regional Sports Networks.

For Openers

• Virginia meets Monmouth for the second time.
• UVA improved to 12-2 in season openers under 14th-year head coach Tony Bennett.
• UVA is 88-10 at JPJ in non-conference action under Bennett.

Broadcast Information

• The Virginia-Monmouth 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 317-117 (.731) mark in 14 seasons at UVA and 386-150 (.720) career mark in 17 seasons as a head coach.
• Bennett needs 10 wins to pass Terry Holland (326-173, 16 seasons) as the all-time winningest coach at UVA.
• Bennett needs 14 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

• Virginia returns all five starters from last season’s team, which finished 21-14 overall, 12-8 in the ACC (sixth) and advanced to the NIT quarterfinals.
• We play defense, take quality shots, pass the basketball, limit turnovers and transition points, rebound and play more defense.
• The Cavaliers return 91.4 percent of its scoring from last season, most among all NCAA Division I teams (Portland 91.1%, Dayton 89.4% and Penn 88.5%).
• Returning starters Kihei Clark (9.0 ppg, 5.0 apg), Reece Beekman (10.0 ppg, 5.0 apg), Jayden Gardner (3.0 ppg, 9.0 rpg), Kadin Shedrick (10.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 2.0 bpg) and Armaan Franklin (21 ppg) lead the way for the Cavaliers.
• Transfer Ben Vander Plas, freshman Isaac McKneely, Francisco Caffaro and Taine Murray have earned playing time off the bench.
• Newcomers Isaac Traudt, Ryan Dunn and Leon Bond III are competing for playing time.

Last Time Out

• Armaan Franklin scored a game-high 21 points to lead No. 18 Virginia to a 73-61 win over North Carolina Central in the season-opener on Nov. 7 at John Paul Jones Arena.
• Franklin shot 5 of 9 from the field, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range, and 7 of 8 from the free throw line.
• UVA’s 11 made 3-pointers (25 attempts) were its most since making 11 vs. Syracuse in the 2021 ACC Tournament.
• Virginia relinquished its 16-point first half lead in the second half as NC Central used a 10-0 run to gain a 44-43 lead.
• The Cavaliers outscored the Eagles 30-17 to gain the win.
• Kadin Shedrick, Reece Beekman and Francisco Caffaro each added 10 points.
• Justin Wright led NC Central with 20 points.

Last Time vs. Monmouth

• De’Andre Hunter scored a career-high 23 points to lead Virginia to a 73-53 win over Monmouth on Nov. 19, 2017.
• Kyle Guy added 13 points and Mamadi Diakite chipped in 10 points and six rebounds.
• UVA, who had 44 points off the bench, shot 52.2 percent from the floor and 81 percent from the free throw line (17-of-21).
• UVA had nine steals and limited Monmouth to 33.3 percent field goal shooting.
• Louie Pillari led Monmouth with 14 points.

There’s No Place Like Home

• Virginia is 217-53 (.804), including a 1-0 mark in 2022-23, in 17 seasons at John Paul Jones Arena.
• UVA was 10-1 at JPJ in 2020-21 and is 179-37 (.829), including a 144-22 (.868) mark the past 11 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 Northern Iowa in nonconference action on Monday. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. on ACC Network.