The No. 4 Virginia Cavaliers are set to face the Clemson Tigers today at noon. And with that, Craig Disselkamp returns with The 2-4-7 ahead of today’s game. Take it away, Craig: 2 Key Matchups Kyle Guy vs. Marcquise Reed: This should be a fun matchup of guards who can really score the ball. Kyle has been en fuego recently, although he did not have as good of a performance against BC. What has impressed me most recently are the rebounds that he has been pulling down, which has helped UVA really improve on that end. Against BC, he also added five assists to his repertoire. Clemson has their own high-scoring guard in Marcquise Reed, who has increased his game to another level in his senior season. He is up to over 19ppg on almost 48% shooting from the field. The majority of the damage is done inside the arc, which should be a good test for the Pack-Line defense. UVA would be wise to keep him from the free throw line, where he shoots about 85%. Reed has an all-around game, as he contributes on the glass and with assists, but his main role is scoring. It should be fun to watch the ACC’s best defense go up against one of its best guards. Jack Salt vs. Elijah Thomas: This should be another fun matchup, one of the old-school variety. Against Clemson in the ACC Tournament, Jack had one of his best offensive performances. Thomas will be looking for a form of revenge. Clemson looks to Thomas for more scoring than UVA does from Salt, so it is more important for Clemson than UVA for Thomas to get the better of this matchup. If Jack can get Thomas into foul trouble (he has at least four fouls in each of the past four games), Clemson may not have the bench depth to really compete with UVA. 4 Players who could Impact the Game De'Andre Hunter: It was good to see more attacking from Hunter against Boston College. UVA will need that as the games get tougher, as it will be interesting to see who UVA’s go-to-player is offensively down the stretch of tight games. The one unfortunate part about UVA’s non-conference schedule is that UVA did not have many tight games, so we have not been able to see that. Hunter has the most versatile offensive game on the UVA roster and can take advantage of basically any type of matchup depending on the defender. In a hostile environment in Death Valley, UVA will need more of the Hunter we saw in the second half against BC. Mamadi Diakite: Speaking of a player who had a big game in Chestnut Hill, how about Mamadi? That first half offensive performance was truly impressive, and if UVA can get the production that it has gotten out of Mamadi that they have gotten recently, they become even more dangerous offensively. He is the best post scorer on the squad, and it really helps the offense when they can get easy baskets out of the post. It makes the defense sag off of UVA’s shooters, which gets them even better shots. Shelton Mitchell: Mitchell is another senior guard for the Tigers who is having a solid senior season. He has been a consistently double-figures scorer since his sophomore season, although he is not particularly efficient (shooting under 40%). He also shoots under 30% from three but is an over 80% shooter from the line. If UVA can keep him off of the line, and limit his open looks, their defense will probably frustrate Mitchell. He does have the talent to go off for a big night, and that may be necessary for a Clemson win. Aamir Sims: Sims is a Virginia native who stepped up when Donte Grantham went out for the year last season. He has continued to improve this season and already has scored more points than he did as a freshman as he averages 9.5ppg. His range extends beyond the three-point line and also averages about 5rpg. He is an x-factor type of player, the type of guy who is needed to pull a big upset like this. UVA should know him well, as he scored nine points and pulled down six rebounds in UVA’s first win against Clemson last season. 7 Stats of Note UVA is still sitting at #3 in defensive efficiency* They have also moved up to #7 in offensive efficiency* Clemson also has a good defense, as they sit at #24* Clemson is #13 in defensive rebounding percentage* Clemson is #280 at defending the three* UVA is #14 in three-point shooting* Clemson is #269 at shooting the three* *Stats via KenPom.com Prediction The Clemson campus ought to be rowdy Saturday after another football national championship this week. They have five losses on the season, but all are to solid teams. As they also have a good defense, expect this game to be a rather low scoring. UVA just has more weapons on the offensive end, however, and I expect UVA to continue their unbeaten run. Clemson will come out strong, but I expect UVA to be able to mostly coast throughout the last ten minutes or so. If they don’t get easy baskets from Elijah Thomas or from their guards driving (something UVa’s defense is built to stop), they don’t score efficiently in other ways to be able to keep up with UVA. Virginia enters a crucial week against two top-ten rivals undefeated.<doc-sep>The No. 4 Virginia Cavaliers remained undefeated on Saturday with a road win against the Clemson Tigers at Littlejohn Coliseum. After an 0-for-6 start from the floor for UVA, Kyle Guy opened scoring in the game two and a half minutes into the contest. It was Guy that scored the game’s second basket as well to give the Wahoos a 4-0 lead. Clemson, which started 0-for-7 from the field, finally made its way onto the scoreboard five minutes and two seconds into the game on a Marcquise Reed make. Kyle Guy answered with a three and with 13:26 left in the half, UVA led the Tigers, 7-2. Jack Salt pushed the UVA lead to 9-2 and with 11:23 left in the half, Clemson was 1-for-11 from the floor. It was Salt that scored UVA’s next basket. Shelton Mitchell made a pair of free throws for Clemson to Clemson and Braxton Key answered with a lay-up to put UVA ahead 13-4 with 7:56 left in the half. With 5:13 left in the half, back-to-back threes by Kyle Guy gave the Wahoos a 21-9 lead. After Guy’s mini-run, Clemson responded with a 6-0 run of their own with David Skara scoring four of those points for the Tigers, but he was answered by a Braxton Key three to give UVA a 24-15 edge. Kihei Clark gave Virginia a 27-17 lead before Clemson answered with four-straight points to close the half with the Wahoos holding a 27-21 lead. Kyle Guy led all scorers at the break with 13 points. Clemson opened second scoring with an Elijah Thomas bucket in the paint. After an answer from Ty Jerome, Thomas scored again in the paint. Marcquise Reed kept the paint soaring for the Tigers and they cut the Wahoos’ lead to two before De’Andre Hunter connected on a three to give UVA a 32-27 lead with 16:43 to play. After a Marquise Reed free throw, Virginia went on a 7-0 run that was started by a Jay Huff three (along with two quick defensive rebounds). Huff was fouled on the next trip down the floor and split the pair of free throws. Ty Jerome tacked on a three to give UVA a 39-28 lead, forcing a Clemson timeout with 13:30 to play. Huff extended the run to a 9-0 run before Elijah Thomas halted it with another bucket in the paint but Virginia responded with threes from De’Andre Hunter and another from Ty Jerome to put UVA ahead 47-32 with 11:47 left in the game. With 7:37 left, Braxton Key got the hoop and harm to put ahead 54-35. With just under four minutes play, Jack Salt made the game, which was once just a two-point lead, a 20-point lead. After Clemson cut the lead back to under 20, Jay Huff got a blocked shot on one end and then a dunk on the other to give Virginia a 61-40 advantage. UVA went on to win 63-43 to improve to 15-0 (3-0 ACC). The Wahoos were led in scoring by Kyle Guy, who finished with 13 points. De'Andre Hunter added 12 points along with seven rebounds. The story of the game, however, was the second half spark that Jay Huff provided, adding 11 points, 7 rebounds, and a block in 11 minutes of action. Virginia moves on to host Virginia Tech in a battle of top-10 teams on Tuesday night. Tip time is set for 8:00 p.m.<doc-sep>The opening point spread has been released for the No. 4 Virginia Cavaliers road game against the Clemson Tigers. Oddsmakers have installed UVA as 6.5-point favorites in Saturday’s game in Littlejohn Coliseum. According to the ESPN Basketball Power Index, the Wahoos have a 79.6-percent probability of winning. The BPI has predicted the point differential at 7.4 points in favor of UVA. KenPom.com has UVA at 72-percent probability of winning. Ken Pomeroy’s site predicts the final score as Virginia 65, Clemson 58. Below are the game notes courtesy of VirginiaSports: CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 4 Virginia (14-0, 2-0 ACC) hits the road for an ACC contest at Clemson (10-5, 0-2 ACC) on Saturday (Jan. 12). Tipoff at Littlejohn Coliseum is set for Noon on Raycom. For Openers • Virginia meets Clemson for the lone time this season. • UVA aims for its 12th straight ACC road win, a nation-leading 13th straight true road win and ninth straight win vs. Clemson. • The Cavaliers have started 14-0 for the first time since starting 19-0 in 2014-15. • ACC Player of the Week Kyle Guy has a 14-game 3-point streak. Broadcast Information • The Virginia-Clemson game will be televised on Raycom and streamed online on TheACC.com and broadcast on the 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 • Three-time National and ACC Coach of the Year Tony Bennett has a 233-86 (.731) mark in 10 seasons at Virginia and 302-119 (.718) career mark in 13 seasons. • Bennett became the 80th active Division I head coach to win his 300th career game against Marshall on Dec. 31, 2018. • In 2017-18, Bennett led Virginia to its eighth ACC regular-season title, third ACC Tournament championship, school-record 31 wins, ACC-record 17 league wins and ACC-record 9-0 mark on the road. • Bennett was named the USBWA Henry Iba National Coach of the Year for the third time to rank second all-time behind legendary John Wooden, who captured the award six times. UVA Ranked No. 4 in AP Poll • Virginia is ranked No. 4 in the AP poll for the third straight week and No. 1 in the Coaches Poll. • The Cavaliers have been ranked in the top six in the AP poll for 10 consecutive weeks. • UVA has been ranked in the AP poll for 26 straight weeks and has been ranked in the top 10 in each of the past 21 polls. • UVA was ranked No. 5 in the preseason polls and has been ranked in the top 10 in the preseason rankings in four of the past five seasons. • In 2017-18, Virginia became the fourth team in the Top 25 era to earn a No. 1 ranking after being unranked in the preseason. On the Road in the ACC • The Cavaliers’ 11-game league ACC road winning streak ranks tied for fourth (UNC’s 11-game streak from 1983-85) all-time in the ACC behind Duke’s 24-game streak (1998-2001) and 14-game streak (1962-64) and NC State’s 13-game streak (1972-74). • UVA’s 11-game winning streak includes a win at NC State in 2017 and ACC-record 9-0 road mark in 2018 and win at Boston College this season. • The Cavaliers’ last ACC road loss was a 65-41 decision at North Carolina on Feb. 18, 2017. Last Time Out • Mamadi Diakite and De’Andre Hunter scored 18 points apiece to guide No. 4 Virginia to an 83-56 win at Boston College on Jan. 9. • Ty Jerome added 13 points and Kyle Guy chipped in 10. • Braxton Key tallied nine points and nine rebounds. • UVA shot 60 percent and out-rebounded the Eagles 41-21. • The Cavaliers went on a 16-0 run and held Boston College scoreless for 7:21 of the second half. All-Time vs. Clemson • Virginia is 76-52 all-time vs. Clemson, including a 24-35 road mark, in a series that dates back to 1935-36. • UVA posted a pair of wins vs. Clemson (61-36 in Charlottesville and 64-58 in the ACC Tournament semifinals) in 2017-18. • The Cavaliers have a two-game winning streak against the Tigers in Clemson, including a 77-73 win in their last trip to Littlejohn Coliseum in 2017. • UVA has an eight-game winning streak in the series, limiting the Tigers to 42 or fewer points in three of the wins. • The Cavaliers are 8-2 in their last 10 meetings against the Tigers. • Head coach Tony Bennett is 10-3 all-time vs. Clemson. Last Time vs. the Tigers • Kyle Guy scored 15 points and then-No. 1 Virginia advanced to the 2018 ACC title game with a 64-58 victory over then-No. 19 Clemson on March 9, 2018. • The top-seeded Cavaliers (30-2) got several crucial plays from role player Jack Salt down the stretch. • Tigers leading scorer Marcquise Reed, who was averaging better than 16 points, was held to six on 2 of 14 shooting by the nation’s most suffocating defense. • UVA built a 14-point lead with 13 minutes remaining and slowed the game down, but Clemson cut the deficit to five with 7:22 left. • Salt scored all eight of his points and snatched six of his eight rebounds after halftime. • Clemson got within four with 13.4 seconds left, but Devon Hall hit two free throws as Virginia closed it out. Hoo Are These Cavaliers? • Virginia is led by the quartet of Ty Jerome, Kyle Guy, De’Andre Hunter, and Jack Salt. • Jerome, Guy, and Hunter have started all 14 games, while Salt has started 11 and is the team’s lone senior. • Jerome, Guy or Hunter has led or tied for the UVA scoring lead in each of its 14 contests, accounting for 58 percent of the Cavaliers’ scoring. • Alabama transfer Braxton Key leads the team in rebounding (5.7), while Mamadi Diakite has averaged 7.3 points and 3.4 rebounds. • Newcomer Kihei Clark has started four games and is second on the team in assists (2.6). Clark broke his left wrist against Morgan State but hasn’t missed a game while playing with a cast.<doc-sep>The No. 4 and undefeated Virginia Cavaliers put their 11-game ACC road winning streak on the line with a trip to Clemson on Saturday. As was the case two years ago, the Hoos are visiting the Tigers the day of Clemson Football’s national championship parade. Last year’s Tigers made the NCAA as a 5-seed and went to the Sweet 16. They did that largely on their defense, which was top 10 nationally. They finished the year as the 14th ranked team. However, the defense has fallen off this year, which has caused team performance to drop off. They currently are 24th nationally in defense, and 40th overall (all ranks via KenPom). The graduation of Gabe Devoe, their best perimeter defender last year, was a big loss. They also lost Donte Grantham, but he missed the second half of last year without a huge impact. Grantham, however, provided outside shooting, which the Tigers could use. The Tigers rank just 269th in three point shooting, and have just one shooter above 36%, who is fifth on the team in attempts. Despite losing two senior leaders, Clemson is one of the most experienced teams in the nation with four seniors in the starting lineup. Interestingly, none of those four began their career at Clemson. It’s also a big lineup, with three starters over 6’7. That size begins with Elijah Thomas, one of the top interior players in the country. The 6’9, 245 lb. big man is among the nations leaders in FG%, FT rate, block rate, and rebound rate. The Tigers rank 14th nationally in two point FG%. They are also among the better teams at defensive rebounding, shot blocking and two point FG defense. Thomas gets a lot of his buckets off of the offensive glass, or off of easy buckets created by his guards. But he’s also a capable post scorer, as shown here. That’s not an easy shot, especially against Syracuse’s length. So, yes, the Tigers are a very good interior team, but they are not a good perimeter team. As mentioned, they can’t shoot. They are 280th nationally in three point defense, can’t shoot, and can’t stop the opposition’s shooters. That’s not a good combination. The Tigers also rank 287th in turnover rate. On the perimeter, the Tigers are led by Marcquise Reed. Reed’s three point percentage has dropped every year, and is down under 33% this year. If you can’t make 33% of your treys, you shouldn’t be shooting treys. Then again, a year ago, 44% of Reed’s shots were threes. This year, that’s down to just 31%. In two games against Virginia last year, Reed scored 12 points on 5-of-24 from the field. That’s not gonna get it done. He was 1-for-15 from downtown over the two games. The Tigers’ nominal point guard is 6’4 lefty Shelton Mitchell. I say “nominal” because he and Reed swap ball-handling duties. Mitchell is the more natural point guard, but Reed has a higher assist rate and Mitchell is an even worse shooter than Reed, at under 28%. He and Reed are tied for the team lead in FGA (Reed missed three games), but Mitchell takes well over 40% of his shots from downtown. He’s not really a guy who can blow by a defender, so sometimes those shots are all he can get. Last year, for the most part, Kyle Guy guarded Mitchell while Devon Hall guarded Reed. Ty Jerome was on Gabe DeVoe. In the first matchup, at JPJ, Mitchell did not score in 28 minutes. You may recall that Virginia won that game 61-36. In the second matchup, in the ACC Tournament, Mitchell had 18 points on 5-for-11 shooting in 38 minutes. That was a much closer game. Most likely, Coach Bennett keeps Guy on Mitchell. If Kihei Clark gets into the game, he’ll probably be on Reed, who is quicker and more aggressive than Mitchell. The one guy who can shoot is 6’8 Croatian David Skara. Skara’s minutes are way up this year, in part because they need shooters, and in part because they simply don’t have much depth. Skara shoots just over 40% from three (and that’s coming off an 0-for-4 performance against Syracuse on Wednesday). He’s just a 31% career shooter, but he’s already taken more shots than he did all of last season. He is a shooter, and is just now playing enough to show off his ability. He doesn’t do a whole lot else, though. If he’s in the game, that likely means he’s guarding either Braxton Key or DeAndre Hunter. That’s a big mismatch for Virginia. Up front with Skara and Thomas is sophomore Aamir Simms. Simms is a another good shot blocker, but isn’t really a good man-to-man defender. He’s also not a strong offensive player. This is pretty much the extent of his offense. He shoots about half his shots from downtown. He makes almost 36%, which isn’t bad considering the Tigers make just 31.6% as a team. Simms is also strong in transition. Clemson doesn’t run much, but both Simms and Thomas are very good at getting out on the break and finishing in transition. Brad Brownell really only has one legit substitute, sophomore Clyde Trapp. Trapp can shoot it a little bit (more than half his shots come from downtown, but he makes just 32%), and is a smart player. He might be the best perimeter defender on the team. He averages about 24 minutes per game. Against Syracuse, Trapp was the only non-starter to get onto the scoresheet. Both Simms and Skara are big guys who tend to play on the perimeter offensively. That will allow Bennett to use several different lineups. Both Key and Hunter could guard either Skara or Simms. Diakite could also handle one of them. Another option he has this game is Jay Huff, especially against Skara, Huff has a size advantage as well as a quickness advantage that he could exploit on both ends of the floor. If he gets the playing time, this could be a big game for Huff. Clemson is similar to FSU, though perhaps not as talented.<doc-sep>
The Virginia Cavaliers passed their first road test of ACC play with a dominant performance Wednesday over Boston College. UVA won 83-56 and saw a six-point lead in the second half balloon to 22 after a 16-0 run. The Cavaliers improved to 14-0 with the win and moved to 2-0 in ACC play. Now Virginia must travel to Littlejohn Coliseum to take on the Clemson Tigers. The Cavaliers will be playing in their fourth road game of the season and so far the road has treated them nicely as they are winning their road contests by an average of 16.33 points. After Clemson, UVA will return home to face in-state rival and top-10 foe, the Virginia Tech Hokies at John Paul Jones Arena. Clemson comes into Saturday’s game with a 10-5 record overall and 0-2 in ACC play. The Tigers lost their first two ACC games to Duke and Syracuse by 19 and 8 respectively. Clemson is 7-1 at home with the lone loss coming to Nebraska. The Tigers have played two ranked teams this season in Duke and Mississippi State, the Tigers lost both contests. Clemson has lost eight straight meetings to UVA including the last one in Littlejohn, back on January 14, 2017. UVA won that game 77-73. Last season UVA defeated Clemson 61-36 during the regular season and 64-58 in the ACC Tournament Semifinals. Clemson Tigers Ranking: #38 in KenPom Record: 10-5 (0-2 ACC) Recent Result: Lost to Syracuse 61-53 UVA Ranking: #4 in AP, #1 in Coaches, #2 in KenPom Record: 14-0 (2-0 ACC) Recent Result: Beat BC 83-56 Stats Breakdown PPG UVA - 74.6 CLEM - 73.3 PA/G UVA- 51.8 CLEM- 67.0 OFF RTG UVA - 119.0 CLEM - 104.9 DEF RTG UVA - 82.7 CLEM - 95.8 Adj. Efficiency OFF UVA - 117.9 CLEM - 108.9 Adj. Efficiency DEF UVA - 86.6 CLEM - 93.7 Turnover % UVA - 14.3 CLEM - 21.1 Effective FG% UVA - 55.5 CLEM - 53.3 Possessions UVA - 63.8 CLEM - 71.2 Stats are from KenPom and College basketball reference Players to watch Clemson G Marcquise Reed: 19.3 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 3.9 APG, 47.9% FG, 32.7% 3FG, 84.6% FT Reed comes into Saturday’s game as the Tigers leading scorer as well as the leader in assists. He’s also second on the team in rebounds per game. Reed has been outstanding inside the arc as he shoots 54.8% on two-point shots but is only hitting 32.7% from 3-point range. Reed has scored in double figures in all but one game this season. Reed had 15 points vs Duke on 4-8 shooting and he had 16 points vs Syracuse on 5-13 shooting. After a rough start to the season from three-point range, he’s 7-15 in the Tigers last four games from deep. Reed had 6 points on each of the Tigers two games vs UVA last season. F Elijah Thomas: 13.5 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 67.3% FG, 66.3% FT Thomas is the Tigers down low presence and the teams leading rebounder. He averages 2.5 offensive rebounds per game as well as 1.5 blocks per game. All of Reed’s scoring comes from inside the arc as he averages 7.3 shots per game and has only attempted one 3-pointer this season. Thomas has hit double figures in 13 of the Tigers 15 games and he’s had a double-double in four games. Thomas had 14 points (7-9 shooting) and 4 rebounds vs Duke and 13 points (4-6 shooting) and 7 rebounds vs Syracuse. Last season Thomas had 2 points and 4 rebounds vs UVA in the regular season and 15 points and 7 rebounds in the ACC Tournament game vs the Cavaliers. UVA G Ty Jerome: 13.5 PPG, 4.4 APG, 42.8% FG, 39.2% 3FG, 76.6% FT Jerome had a solid game vs Boston College as he finished with 13 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. Jerome has shot 13-38 (34.2%) in UVA’s last four games but has had at least 4 assists in all four of those games. Jerome is the Cavaliers leader in assists and steals and he’s third in scoring. G Kyle Guy: 15.4 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 48.0% FG, 47.3% 3FG, 87.1% FT Guy had 10 points and 8 rebounds vs the Eagles Wednesday but it was the first time in seven games that Guy didn’t have at least 15 points in a game. Guy was 2-6 from three and it was the first time he didn’t shoot at least 40% from three since the VCU game.