Previewing No. 23 Virginia basketball’s matchup with American

The No. 23 Virginia Cavaliers wrap up their home non-conference slate on Monday night as the American Eagles come to John Paul Jones Arena.

Last time out, the ’Hoos struggled early on against a feisty Maryland squad, which played well above its quadrant-four classification in the NET rankings. The Terrapins’ swarming defense had Virginia flustered early on, but behind a season-high 20 points from Dallin Hall, the ’Hoos erupted for 56 second-half points to earn their tenth win of the season.

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On Monday, Ryan Odom and the ’Hoos will look to head into the holidays by earning their 11th win of the season before the ACC schedule gets underway on December 31st at Virginia Tech. Tipoff against the Eagles is set for 6 PM EST with coverage available on ACC Network.

What to know about American

UVA is 6-1 all-time against American, with its lone loss coming in 1951. The ’Hoos last took on the Eagles exactly one year ago today, earning a narrow 63-58 win behind Elijah Saunders’s 21 points.

American is coached by Duane Simpkins, a DMV basketball great who is in his third season guiding the Eagles. Simpkins, who starred at DeMatha Catholic High School as a player, steered the Eagles to the Patriot League Championship and their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2014 last season.

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This season, the Eagles have struggled a bit to re-find their rhythm, and head to Charlottesville with just a 7-5 overall record (0-4 on the road). Sitting at 234th on KenPom and 247th in the NET, American represents the last quad-four matchup of the season for the ’Hoos (as it currently stands).

The Eagle to watch out for on Monday night is freshman guard Madden Collins. A true freshman from Columbia, South Carolina, Collins leads the Eagles in scoring at 13.0 points per game despite coming off the bench in all 12 of American’s games and playing just 52% of the team’s total minutes thus far.

A 6-foot-5 slasher, Collins isn’t much of a threat from beyond the arc (24.5%)…

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Publish date : 2025-12-22 18:44:00

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