Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas – Divisional Round
The Virginia Cavaliers and Wake Forest Demon Deacons will play Saturday at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, NC.
UVA, 14-3 SU and 6-11 ATS, defeated rival Virginia Tech 78-68 on Wednesday. Wake Forest, 14-5 SU and 11-8 ATS, upset Clemson 87-77 on Tuesday. The Demon Deacons beat the Cavaliers 63-55 in their lone meeting last season. They also own a 71-63 advantage in the series' history.
Tip-off is at 2:00 p.m. ET.
Virginia picked up another key win on Wednesday, pulling within one game of first place in the ACC. The Cavaliers are now tied with Miami, Wake Forest, and Pittsburgh at 6-2 in conference competition.
In the win over the Hokies, UVA shot 29-for-57 (50.9%) and converted 12 of 13 free throws. The Hoos also outrebounded Tech 30-27, recorded 19 assists, and committed just five turnovers.
“Rarely will you hear me say this, but we had to score,” Cavaliers head coach Tony Bennett said. “We had a hard time stopping them, and we ran good offense, and the guards made timely, big baskets, but they put a lot of pressure on you.”
Broadcast highlights from last night's win vs. Virginia Tech!
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— Virginia Men's Basketball (@UVAMensHoops) Janu ary 19, 2023
Virginia scores 70.0 points on 46.1 percent shooting from the field, including 38.2 percent from three-point range. The Cavs shoot 70.8 percent from the charity stripe and average 29.5 rebounds with a +1.3 rebounding margin. They're 21st nationally in schedule-adjusted offensive efficiency, per KenPom.
Senior guard Armaan Franklin leads Virginia in scoring at 12.1 points per game. The Cavaliers also count on contributions from senior guard Kihei Clark (11.5 PPG and 5.9 APG), senior forward Jayden Gardner (10.4 PPG and 4.8 RPG), and junior guard Reece Beekman (9.9 PPG and 5.1 APG).
Virginia gives up 59.9 points per game (13th-best nationally) on 40.8 percent shooting, including 34.9 percent from behind the arc. They're 23rd in schedule-adjusted defensive efficiency and boast the country's best assist-per-turnover ratio (1.75). Their assist-per-turnover ratio over the past three games (2.31) is also number one in the NCAA during that stretch.