Wednesday, November 25
Charlottesville, Va.
7:00 pm
Lehigh University
at
Virginia
Lehigh hits the road for Thanksgiving Eve showdown at No. 12 Virginia
11/24/2015 2:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Game Notes | Watch Live (ESPN3) | Listen Live | Live Stats
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh men's basketball team will continue its tough November schedule when the Mountain Hawks travel to No. 12 Virginia for a Wednesday evening showdown. Lehigh will be searching for its first win of the season, one year after the Mountain Hawks' first victory of 2014-15 was on Thanksgiving Eve at DePaul. Lehigh has dropped some tough games against quality competition, but has been in three of the games down the stretch. The Mountain Hawks stood tied or within a single possession against both Canisius and Yale in the final four minutes.
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After a competitive start at Columbia Sunday, the Mountain Hawks' offense went cold and the Lions took advantage, eventually opening a 41-22 halftime lead. Lehigh showed strong signs in the second half, pulling as close as 14 with 7:05 remaining, but the Lions ended the game on a run to wrap up the 88-61 victory. Junior Tim Kempton led the Mountain Hawks' offense with 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting and 7-of-9 from the free throw line. It marked the 10th time in Kempton's career he reached 20 points. He also added seven rebounds and three assists. Senior Jesse Chuku scored 14 points while sophomore Kahron Ross tallied eight points, seven assists and two steals.
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Lehigh's November schedule has been one of the most challenging in the country. In the Ken Pomeroy rankings, the Mountain Hawks' schedule thus far is ranked 41th with games at No. 3 RPI and No. 9 RPI Purdue upcoming. For perspective, the next-highest strength of schedule by a Patriot League team is Lafayette at 119. Lehigh's opponents are a combined 10-4 on the season with three of the losses coming to power conference opponents.
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Virginia marks Lehigh's second ACC opponent of the season after opening the campaign at Syracuse. The Mountain Hawks fell behind 32-12 at the half, but stormed back in the second to pull within six with 12:35 still remaining. In total, Lehigh has been competitive against each of its last four power conference opponents, defeating DePaul and Arizona State last season while dropping the 2014 and 2015 season openers to Villanova and Syracuse. Lehigh's last nationally-ranked opponent was Villanova to open last season as the Wildcats stood No. 12. The Mountain Hawks will be playing two ranked foes in a four-day span, also traveling to No. 15/16 Purdue on Saturday. Lehigh's last win over a ranked opponent came in the 2012 NCAA Tournament when the 15th-seeded Mountain Hawks defeated second-seeded Duke.
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Ranked No. 12 in both national rankings, Virginia stands 4-1 overall coming off three straight victories against Bradley, Long Beach State and George Mason. The Cavaliers' lone loss came at George Washington by a 73-68 final. Malcolm Brogdon leads UVA in scoring, averaging 15.4 points per game. Three others are in double figures as well: Anthony Gill (13.0), London Perrantes (10.8) and Mike Tobey (10.2). Gill leads the way with 5.8 rebounds per contest while Perrantes has tallied a team-high 24 assists through five games. The Cavaliers won 30 games as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament last season and have high aspirations in 2015-16, entering the season at No. 2 in the ACC preseason poll and No. 6 in the preseason national rankings. Brogdon was named the ACC's Preseason Co-Player of the Year.
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Virginia won the first and only meeting so far between the two sides, winning 87-60 in the fifth game of the 1973-74 season.
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The Mountain Hawks will remain on the road for another test at a nationally-ranked foe, No. 15/16 Purdue on Saturday. The game tips off at 7 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN3/WatchESPN.
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Like Lehigh men's basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh men's basketball team will continue its tough November schedule when the Mountain Hawks travel to No. 12 Virginia for a Wednesday evening showdown. Lehigh will be searching for its first win of the season, one year after the Mountain Hawks' first victory of 2014-15 was on Thanksgiving Eve at DePaul. Lehigh has dropped some tough games against quality competition, but has been in three of the games down the stretch. The Mountain Hawks stood tied or within a single possession against both Canisius and Yale in the final four minutes.
Â
After a competitive start at Columbia Sunday, the Mountain Hawks' offense went cold and the Lions took advantage, eventually opening a 41-22 halftime lead. Lehigh showed strong signs in the second half, pulling as close as 14 with 7:05 remaining, but the Lions ended the game on a run to wrap up the 88-61 victory. Junior Tim Kempton led the Mountain Hawks' offense with 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting and 7-of-9 from the free throw line. It marked the 10th time in Kempton's career he reached 20 points. He also added seven rebounds and three assists. Senior Jesse Chuku scored 14 points while sophomore Kahron Ross tallied eight points, seven assists and two steals.
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Lehigh's November schedule has been one of the most challenging in the country. In the Ken Pomeroy rankings, the Mountain Hawks' schedule thus far is ranked 41th with games at No. 3 RPI and No. 9 RPI Purdue upcoming. For perspective, the next-highest strength of schedule by a Patriot League team is Lafayette at 119. Lehigh's opponents are a combined 10-4 on the season with three of the losses coming to power conference opponents.
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Virginia marks Lehigh's second ACC opponent of the season after opening the campaign at Syracuse. The Mountain Hawks fell behind 32-12 at the half, but stormed back in the second to pull within six with 12:35 still remaining. In total, Lehigh has been competitive against each of its last four power conference opponents, defeating DePaul and Arizona State last season while dropping the 2014 and 2015 season openers to Villanova and Syracuse. Lehigh's last nationally-ranked opponent was Villanova to open last season as the Wildcats stood No. 12. The Mountain Hawks will be playing two ranked foes in a four-day span, also traveling to No. 15/16 Purdue on Saturday. Lehigh's last win over a ranked opponent came in the 2012 NCAA Tournament when the 15th-seeded Mountain Hawks defeated second-seeded Duke.
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Ranked No. 12 in both national rankings, Virginia stands 4-1 overall coming off three straight victories against Bradley, Long Beach State and George Mason. The Cavaliers' lone loss came at George Washington by a 73-68 final. Malcolm Brogdon leads UVA in scoring, averaging 15.4 points per game. Three others are in double figures as well: Anthony Gill (13.0), London Perrantes (10.8) and Mike Tobey (10.2). Gill leads the way with 5.8 rebounds per contest while Perrantes has tallied a team-high 24 assists through five games. The Cavaliers won 30 games as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament last season and have high aspirations in 2015-16, entering the season at No. 2 in the ACC preseason poll and No. 6 in the preseason national rankings. Brogdon was named the ACC's Preseason Co-Player of the Year.
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Virginia won the first and only meeting so far between the two sides, winning 87-60 in the fifth game of the 1973-74 season.
Â
The Mountain Hawks will remain on the road for another test at a nationally-ranked foe, No. 15/16 Purdue on Saturday. The game tips off at 7 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN3/WatchESPN.
Â
Like Lehigh men's basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
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| Date: | November 25, 2015 |
| Opponent: | Virginia Cavaliers |
| Tip-off: | 7:00 PM |
| Arena/Capacity: | Paul Jones Arena/14,593 |
| Location: | Charlottesville, Va. |
| Lehigh's Record: | 0-4 0-0 Patriot League  |
| Virginia's Record: | 4-1, 0-0 ACC |
| Series: | Virginia leads, 1-0 |
| Radio: | Live on ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320 AM and Lehighsports.com with Tom Fallon. Pregame coverage gets underway at 6:30 PM |
| Television: | ESPN3 |
| Internet Video: | ESPN3/WatchESPN |
| Behind Enemy Lines: | Virginia's Official Website |
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