On Monday afternoon, the Virginia Cavalier men’s basketball team moved up to #2 in this week’s release of the Associated Press Top 25 Rankings, giving UVA their highest ranking since the 2018-2019 season. The Hoos also received 19 of a possible 62 first place votes in the latest edition of the AP Top 25.
Virginia’a rise to #2 comes after a 55-50 win over James Madison last Tuesday night at John Paul Jones Arena to improve the Cavaliers’ record to an undefeated 8-0. In the win, Kihei Clark led the way for the Hoos, recording 18 points on 5/11 shooting to go along with 7 assists. Jayden Gardner also delivered a solid performance for Virginia, scoring 14 points and grabbing 8 rebounds. As a team, the Cavaliers struggled mightily shooting the basketball, making just 5 of their 21 three point attempts. The Hoos also really struggled from the free throw line, going just 12 for 24 from the charity stripe. However, UVA played excellent defense, holding JMU to their lowest point total of the season. As a team, the Dukes shot just 27% from the floor and 30% from the three point line. Overall, the Cavaliers did not play their best basketball but were still able to come away with the win to stay undefeated. However, Reece Beekman did leave the game with a hamstring injury in the first half and did not return to the game. His status for Saturday’s game against Houston is unknown at this time.
Next up, the #2 ranked Cavaliers will host the #5 ranked Houston Cougars in a matchup between two top 5 teams on Saturday at John Paul Jones Arena at 2 PM.
