Tale of the Tape: Virginia Faces Wisconsin In Battle 4 Atlantis Championship

Posted on Friday, Nov. 23, 2018, 8:51 am

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Virginia heads into Friday’s Battle 4 Atlantis championship game riding a nation-best 23-game winning streak in the month of November, and will be looking for its sixth in-season tournament title in a row dating back to 2013. The Cavaliers (5-0) have won 13 straight holiday tournament games during that span.

UVA didn’t have much time to prepare for Dayton after playing at 9:30 Tuesday night and then having to tip off against the Flyers just after 4 p.m. on Wednesday. After falling behind early, the ‘Hoos prevailed by 7 and moved on to Friday’s championship game, which will easily be the toughest of the year for Tony Bennett’s team.

No. 25 Wisconsin also comes in with a perfect 5-0 record. The Badgers defeated Stanford in the opening round and then won by 20 over Oklahoma in the semifinals. Wisconsin has also defeated Coppin State and Houston Baptist at home, and won by 9 at Xavier.

UVA will have to stop Wisconsin’s 1-2 punch, as leading scorer D’Mitrik Trice, a sophomore guard, set a career high with 25 points (7 for 8 3-pointers) against the Sooners and senior center Ethan Happ averages a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds a contest. Trice’s seven long balls set a Battle 4 Atlantis record, and he’s shooting a blistering 61 percent from downtown (20 for 33).

De’Andre Hunter has been on a roll as of late, scoring 20, 15 and 23 points in his last three outings, the latter tying his career high. His career-best 9 assists were part of a near-triple double performance against Middle Tennessee Tuesday night.