NIT Quarterfinal Preview: Virginia vs. St. Bonaventure

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Virginia (21-13) will host St. Bonaventure (22-9) in an NIT quarterfinal contest on Tuesday. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN.

For Openers

• UVA meets St. Bonaventure for the first time.
• UVA is making its 14th NIT appearance and seeks its first NIT semifinal appearance since winning the title in 1992.
• UVA’s Jayden Gardner needs 15 points for 2,000 career points.

Broadcast Information

• The Virginia-St. Bonaventure game will be televised on ESPN 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 316-116 (.731) mark in 13 seasons at UVA and 385-149 (.721) 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 UVA to its 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 (2012-22) and guided the Hoos to seven consecutive NCAA tournaments (2014-21).
• UVA is 161-70 (.700) in ACC play (90-25 at home & 71-45 away), 178-36 (.832) at home and 155-46 (.771) in non-conference action (87-9 at JPJ) under Bennett.
• Bennett ranks fifth all-time in winning percentage (.700) among ACC head coaches with 100 or more ACC wins.

UVA All-Time in the NIT

• The Cavaliers are 19-11 all-time in 14 NIT appearances, including a pair of championships in 1980 and 1992.
• UVA is 2-4 all-time in the NIT quarterfinals.
• The Cavaliers are 11-4 at home in the NIT.
• Virginia associate head coach Jason Williford was a member of the 1992 NIT champion Cavaliers.
• The Cavaliers are 17-8 in NCAA/NIT postseason play under Bennett, including a 4-1 mark in the NIT.
• Bennett is 4-2 all-time in the NIT, including a 68-57 loss at St. Mary’s as head coach at Washington State in 2009.

Hoo Are These Cavaliers?

• The Cavaliers play defense, take good shots, share and take care of the basketball, rebound, and play more defense.
• UVA is led by its backcourt of Kihei Clark (10.2 ppg & 4.3 apg) and Reece Beekman (8.3 ppg, 5.2 apg, 3.8 rpg & 2.2 spg), and the additions of transfers Jayden Gardner (15.4 ppg & 6.4 rpg) and Armaan Franklin (11.0 ppg).
• 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.
• Francisco Caffaro (4.3 ppg & 4.6 rpg) and Kadin Shedrick (6.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg & 1.9 bpg) anchor the paint. Shedrick has started 18 contests, while Caffaro has started 16.
• Kody Stattmann (35.7% 3FGs), Malachi Poindexter, Taine Murray, Igor Miliĉić Jr. and Carson McCorkle provide perimeter depth off the bench.

Last Time Out

• Armaan Franklin scored nine of his 17 points in overtime to lead Virginia to a 71-69 win at North Texas (25-7) in NIT second-round action on March 20.
• Franklin matched a career high with five 3-pointers as UVA shot 52.9 percent from beyond the arc.
• Jayden Gardner added 17 points and Reece Beekman tallied 13 points, nine assists and three steals.
• Kihei Clark added 11 points and Kody Stattmann chipped in a career-high 10 rebounds off the bench for the Cavaliers (21-13).
• Mardrez McBride had a game-high 21 points for North Texas.
• UVA shot 48.1 percent and committed just six turnovers.

On The Horizon

• The winner of the Virginia/St. Bonaventure NIT quarterfinal advances to the semifinals vs. No. 2 seed Xavier or No. 4 seed Vanderbilt on Tuesday, March 29 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Tipoff and television designation is TBD.