North Carolina Central takes on Virginia this Tuesday night at John Paul Jones Arena. In their last head-to-head encounter in November 2022, the Cavaliers prevailed over the Eagles at home, winning by a score of 73-61.

NCCU looks to become the latest HBCU to upset a big-name program. Over the last week Southern University knocked off no. 21 Mississippi State while Norfolk State defeated VCU 66-63. NCCU could potentially find success just like their MEAC rival.

Virginia | OVR 7-1 | ACC 1-0 (6th) | HOME 5-0

Although Virginia basketball is unranked, they are still one of the top college basketball teams in the country. They are 7-1 on the season and recently defeated Syracuse and #14 Texas A&M. Virginia has been a college basketball powerhouse for decades. Last year, they finished the season with a 25-8 record after a first-round upset loss to Furman in the NCAA Tournament.

Isaac McKneely led Virginia in the team’s last matchup against Syracuse, scoring 22 points, while hitting six threes. McKneely comes into this matchup with season averages of 10.1 points and 2.4 made three-pointers per game.

Virginia has shown significant improvement in generating points off turnovers in their last five games, averaging 16.0 points, a notable increase from their season-long average of 13.9 points.

North Carolina Central | OVR 4-5 | MEAC 0-0 | AWAY 2-3

North Carolina Central will hope this contest marks the end of its poor three-point shooting away from home. Opposing crowds have frazzled the Eagles into shooting just 25.8% from distance.

Po’Boigh King has been a leader for the Eagles thus far this year securing defensive rebounds. King comes in averaging 3.8 defensive boards per game, and currently ranks fifth in the MEAC for total defensive rebounds.

Key Metrics

• Virginia prefers to play methodically and execute in the half-court. The Cavaliers play at the slowest pace in the ACC. They average 61.8 possessions per 40 minutes, compared to the ACC average of 70.5.
• The Eagles pride themselves on offensive efficiency. They average 1.08 points per possession for the season, which ranks second in the MEAC (conference average is 0.96).

Gameday AI content is produced using Artificial Intelligence technology powered by Boost Sport before being approved and published by HBCU Gameday.

Virginia basketball looking avoid upset vs. North Carolina Central