Virginia continues road swing at Clemson

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Posted on Monday, Jan. 3, 2022, 5:42 pm

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Courtesy UVA Media Relations

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Photo courtesy UVA Athletics.

Virginia (8-5, 2-1 ACC) travels to Clemson (9-4, 1-1) for an ACC contest on Tuesday, Jan. 4. Tipoff at Littlejohn Coliseum is set for 9 p.m. on Regional Sports Networks.

For Openers

  • Virginia (8-5, 2-1 ACC) continues its three-game road swing at Clemson.
  • UVA is 1-2 on the road this season and has a five-game road winning streak at Clemson.

Broadcast Information

  • The Virginia-Clemson 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 303-108 (.737) mark in 13 seasons at UVA and 372-141 (.727) 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 151-63 (.706) in ACC play (85-22 at home & 66-41 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 (.706) among ACC head coaches with 100 or more ACC wins.

Hoo Are These Cavaliers?

  • UVA is led by its returning backcourt of Kihei Clark (10.1 ppg & 4.4 apg) and Reece Beekman (6.8 ppg, 4.4 apg & 2.2 spg), and the additions of transfers Jayden Gardner (14.8 ppg & 7.8 rpg) and Armaan Franklin (11.9 ppg).
  • Clark has played 106 games at UVA and is averaging career-highs in field goal percentage (44.3%) and 3-point percentage (42.3%).
  • 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 (6.7 ppg, 5.5 rpg & 2.77 bpg) and Francisco Caffaro (3.2 rpg) anchor the paint, while Taine Murray (44.4% 3FGs), Igor Miliĉić Jr. (38.1% 3FGs), Carson McCorkle (33.3% 3FGs), Malachi Poindexter and Kody Stattmann provide perimeter depth.

Virginia All-Time vs. Clemson

  • Virginia is 79-53 all-time vs. Clemson, including a 26-35 road mark, in a series that dates back to 1935-36.
  • Clemson ended UVA’s 11-game winning streak in the series with its 67-50 win at Virginia on Dec. 22, 2021.
  • UVA defeated the Tigers 85-50 in its last trip to Clemson last season.
  • The Cavaliers own a five-game winning streak against the Tigers in South Carolina, including a 64-57 win in Greenville on March 1, 2016.
  • UVA is 13-3 in its last 16 meetings against the Tigers.
  • Head coach Tony Bennett is 13-4 all-time vs. Clemson.

Last Time vs. The Tigers

  • 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.

Last Time Out

  • Kihei lark scored 17 points and handed out eight assists as Virginia topped Syracuse at Carrier Dome on New Year’s Day at Carrier Dome.
  • Armaan Franklin added 17 points and Jayden Gardner had 15 points and Kadin Shedrick chipped in 12 points and career-high 11 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who improved to 8-5, 2-1 ACC.
  • Buddy Boeheim led the Orange with a game-high 27 points.
  • Virginia shot 52.6 percent and scored 40 points in the paint.
  • The Cavaliers scored 14 points off 11 Syracuse turnovers.
  • Syracuse outrebounded UVA 37-33.

On The Horizon

  • Virginia travels to North Carolina on Saturday, Jan. 8. Tipoff at Smith Center is set for 1 p.m. on ESPN.