January 12, 2028
Code:
VIRGINIA Schedule
Date Opponent Record RPI Result Score Record
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11/08/27 vs. Utah State 9-5 87 W 64-45 1-0
11/10/27 vs. #2 Kentucky 14-0 18 L 62-61 1-1
11/14/27 at Canisius 7-9 248 W 72-61 2-1
11/19/27 at Evansville 8-7 44 W 85-66 3-1
11/23/27 Haverford 7-8 254 W 76-51 4-1
11/27/27 Bowdoin 6-10 315 W 66-36 5-1
12/05/27 at Saint Louis 11-3 78 W 77-58 6-1
12/10/27 St. Peter's 4-12 237 W 71-67 7-1
12/14/27 Morehead State 6-8 55 L 54-46 7-2
12/19/27 #6 Syracuse 12-2 7 W 70-60 8-2
12/22/27 at Wagner 9-6 206 W 73-61 9-2
12/25/27 Long Island 7-7 120 W 69-47 10-2
12/28/27 at Binghamton 6-11 261 W 75-45 11-2
Ideally, our non-conference schedule gives us an opportunity to define our team's identity before we face the demands of ACC play. This year, it looks like we're hitching our hopes to a defense that has been very difficult to score against. The 66 points we gave up to Evansville is the most we've surrendered in any game so far, and we've held five opponents under 50. Connecticut is the only Division I team that has allowed fewer points per game than we have (52.0 to 54.8).
The season begins with a trip to the four-team Travelers Invitational tournament. Our opening-game victory against Utah State is the
200th of Toby Whittaker's career. His career record is 200-75, and his .725 winning percentage ranks 21st among qualifying coaches.
Two nights later, we lose a close one to powerful Kentucky. We're ahead, 61-60, with a minute left. We force the Wildcats to take a poor shot, but they outfight us for the rebound, reset their offense, and score the game-winning basket with five seconds left. As you can see, the 'Cats then go on to win 12 more games in a row.
We catch up with
Joe Cavallini, a Canisius High graduate, when we visit Buffalo. Joe is rehabbing the ankle injury he suffered in his second professional game, so he can watch
John Steinberg come off the bench to score 37!! points; John follows this performance up with 19 more at Evansville.
We barely escape an embarrassing upset at the hands of St. Peter's, who had won a single game at that point in the season. We trail by 11 points at halftime, and it gets worse from there. With 12:19 to play in the second half, we're behind, 55-37. We're still four points behind with 2:25 remaining, and we don't take the lead until
Chris Como drains a three a minute later.
Then, we fall behind to Morehead State, and this time we can't come back. Committing 21 turnovers will do that to a team. At this point, I'm wondering if we're simply a mediocre team this year...and then my hope is restored by a delightful victory over a top-ten Syracuse team at JPJ. Which UVA team is the real one? I suppose we'll find out as we run this gauntlet over the next two months:
Code:
2027 Atlantic Coast Conference Standings
TEAM CW CL Pct W L Pct RPI Prestige
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#12 Maryland 0 0 .000 12 2 .857 16 90
#16 North Carolina 0 0 .000 12 2 .857 51 98
Wake Forest 0 0 .000 12 3 .800 106 70
Virginia 0 0 .000 11 2 .846 12 84
#14 Duke 0 0 .000 11 2 .846 15 97
Florida State 0 0 .000 11 3 .786 85 68
Virginia Tech 0 0 .000 11 2 .846 91 68
Clemson 0 0 .000 10 4 .714 4 74
Miami 0 0 .000 9 5 .643 69 82
North Carolina State 0 0 .000 9 5 .643 92 66
Georgia Tech 0 0 .000 9 5 .643 218 59
Boston College 0 0 .000 7 7 .500 43 59
The Hoos seem to be settling nicely into their roles.
Larry Wallace (17.5 PPG) and
Chris Como (16.0 PPG) are the scorers.
Chris Burke (8.8 RPG) and
Jonathan Mooney (8.5 RPG) are the rebounders, and Chris (2.5 BPG) protects the rim.
Anthony Carreno (5.9 APG) runs the offense. And
John Steinberg (11.3 PPG) provides instant offense.
It's a likeable group of players, and it will be fun to see how they fare in ACC play.