Virginia hosts Coppin State Friday night

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Posted on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, 10:20 pm

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Courtesy UVA Media Relations

uva logoVirginia (1-2) hosts Coppin State (1-5) in men’s basketball nonconference action on Friday, Nov. 19. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is slated for 7 p.m. on Regional Sports Networks.

For Openers

  • Virginia meets Coppin State for the first time since defeating the Eagles 97-40 on Nov. 16, 2018.
  • UVA is 147-43 (.774) in nonconference action under Tony Bennett, including an 83-8 record at John Paul Jones Arena.
  • Virginia’s 1-2 record marks its worst start since opening 1-2 in 2012-13.
  • UVA is 20-0 all-time vs. current Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opponents.

Broadcast Information

  • The Virginia-Coppin State 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 296-105 (.738) mark in 13 seasons at Virginia and 365-138 (.726) career mark in 16 seasons as a head coach.
  • 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).

Hoo Are These Cavaliers?

  • We play defense, take good shots, share, and take care of the basketball, rebound, and play more defense.
  • UVA is led by its returning backcourt of Kihei Clark (9.0 ppg & 3.0 apg) and Reece Beekman (7.0 ppg, 3.3 apg & 3.7 spg), and the additions of transfers Jayden Gardner (13 ppg, 6.3 rpg) and Armaan Franklin (13 ppg).
  • Clark has played 96 games at UVA and was an All-ACC honorable mention selection last season, while Beekman had a team-high 30 steals and was second with 75 assists.
  • 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 for the Hoosiers in 2020-21.
  • Kadin Shedrick (7 ppg & 5 rpg) and Francisco Caffaro (5 rpg) anchor the paint, while Carson McCorkle, Kody Stattmann, Taine Murray and Igor Miliĉić Jr. provide perimeter depth.

All-Time vs. Coppin State

  • Virginia is 2-0 all-time against Coppin State in the series that dates back to the 1993-94 season.
  • Then-No. 4 UVA stormed past the Eagles 97-40 in the last meeting on Nov. 16, 2018.
  • Virginia also defeated the Eagles 63-61 on Dec. 9, 1993, at University Hall.

Last Time vs. the Eagles

  • De’Andre Hunter had a season-high 20 points and Mamadi Diakite added 18 points as then-No. 4 Virginia routed Coppin State 97-40 on Friday, Nov. 16.
  • UVA’s 97 points are the most under 13th-year head coach Tony Bennett and the 57-point win is the third largest in school history.
  • Ty Jerome added 11 points and six assists and Kihei Clark sank a trio of 3-pointers in the lopsided win.
  • UVA shot 60.3 percent from the field and went 15 of 25 from 3-point range.

On The Horizon

  • Virginia will compete in the Legends Classic on Nov. 22-23 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. The Cavaliers face Georgia in their first game on Monday, Nov. 22 at 7 p.m. on ESPNU.