Villanova Men's Basketball
Villanova Men’s Basketball to Play Virginia in Exhibition Game
Villanova Men’s Basketball will face the Virginia Cavaliers on the road at the John Paul Jones Arena in an exhibition game on Friday, Oct. 24, per a team press release.
The two teams matched up at the Hall of Fame series in Baltimore, Md. in 2024, with Virginia claiming a 70-60 win. Villanova won the game before that, an instant classic during the 2016-17 season that saw the No. 1 Wildcats prevail over the No. 12 Cavaliers on a Donte DiVincenzo buzzer-beater at the Finneran Pavilion.
While both teams were perennial powerhouses for much of the past two decades, with Villanova winning national championships in 2016 and 2018 and Virginia doing so in 2019, they never matched up in the postseason during their respective runs of success. The Cavaliers have dominated the all-time series, playing to a 6-3 advantage that includes a 1981 win in the Round of 32 and a 1-1 record in the NIT.
Both the Wildcats and the Cavaliers have new head coaches this season, with Virginia hiring Ryan Odom away from VCU and Villanova bringing Kevin Willard into the fold. As such, the marquee matchup will give coaches and fans from both teams a first look at their new lineups.
