Virginia’s No. 1 in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio; point guards shine

By Jerry Ratcliffe

One of the main things Tony Bennett preaches in his Virginia basketball program is taking care of the ball, and heading toward the second half of the ACC season, nobody in the country does it better.

The Cavaliers are No. 1 in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio after 18 games. Thus far, UVA has posted 292 assists and committed 164 turnovers for a ratio of 1.78, the best of all the basketball teams in the country.

Bennett’s team is No. 3 nationally in fewest turnovers per game at 9.1 per game. Penn State is No. 1 in the country in that category at 8.7. UVA is No. 26 in assists per game with 16.2.

In terms of individual assist-to-turnover ratio, the Cavaliers boast about both their point guards. Reece Beekman is fourth nationally in that category with a ratio of 3.22 (87 assists, 27 turnovers). Kihei Clark is No. 19 in the country at 2.84 (105 assists, 37 turnovers).

The UVA duo are the only two ACC players ranked in the nation’s top 45 in assist-to-turnover ratio. Georgia Tech’s Deivon Smith is 46th.

The two Cavalier point guards are also the only two players in the ACC with at least 75 points, 50 assists and 25 rebounds during league play.

As effective as Virginia has been in 3-point shooting of late, the Cavaliers are only No. 114 in the country in 3-pointers per game with 8.1. They are, however, No. 13 nationally in 3-point percentage (145 of 374) 38.77.

UVA is also No. 13 nationally in scoring defense, giving up 60.3 points per game, and 50th in field-goal percentage defense (40.7).