The Virginia basketball team is steep with experience and has enough offensive firepower to be dangerous.

The Cavaliers have been remarkably consistent with just a two-game losing streak against two ranked foes in Dec. — Houston and at Miami (Fla.). Seven different UVA players have led them in scoring this season under veteran coach Tony Bennett.

No. 8-ranked Virginia (17-4 overall, 9-3 ACC) hosts No. 22-ranked NC State at 9 p.m. tonight on ACC Network.

Virginia returned all five starters from last year, but one is coming off the bench this season.

The Cavaliers have an “older” squad with senior point guard Kihei Clark, senior post player Jayden Gardner, senior wing Armaan Franklin and senior power forward Ben Vander Plas. Junior combo guard Reece Beekman is the “young one” as a junior.

Gardner arrived from East Carolina, Franklin from Indiana and Vander Plas is from Ohio.

Rankings

Virginia is No. 15 in the NET rankings, and NC State is No. 41.

ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has the Cavaliers ranked No. 13 overall, and the Wolfpack are No. 41.

KenPom.com has Virginia at No. 15, and NCSU checks in at No. 47.

RealtimeRPI.com has Virginia ranked No. 15 in the country, and NC State is No. 36.

Shooting

Virginia is averaging 70.3 points per game and shooting 45.7 percent from the field, 38.2 percent on three-pointers and 71.9 percent at the free-throw line.

Freshman wing Isaac McKneely is one of three players shooting at least 40 percent from three-point stripe at 43.9 percent. Beekman is at 43.1 percent and Clark is at 40.0. Franklin is another sniper at 39.8 percent on three-pointers.

Rebounding

The Cavaliers are averaging 32.5 rebounds per game and are a plus-1.3 on rebounding margin.

Gardner leads UVA with 5.1 rebounds and Vander Plas is right behind at 4.6 boards a game. Gardner has a team-high 42 offensive rebounds.

Defense

UVA is allowing 60.9 points per game, with opponents shooting 41.6 percent from the field and 34.3 percent from beyond the arc.

Junior Kadin Shedrick, who has been injured of late, leads the team with 28 blocks. Five players have at least 20 steals, with both Clark and Beekman at 25.

Depth

Virginia played three guys off the bench against Virginia Tech on Saturday.

Senior center Francisco Caffaro and freshmen McKneely and Ryan Dunn have become the bench core. UVA has been missing Shedrick since Jan. 30.

McKneely is averaging 6.6 points and 21.1 minutes per game, and he’s shooting 43.9 percent on three-pointers. Dunn has chipped in 2.9 points and 2.8 rebounds in 13.2 minutes per game.

Junior guard Reece Beekman has improved each season at Virginia.

The 6-foot-3 190-pounder is averaging 10.0 points, 3.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game, and he’s also known for his defense. Beekman is shooting an impressive 22 of 51 from three-point land for 43.1 percent, and 43.9 percent from the field.

Beekman had a season-high 18 points and five assists in the 70-68 win at Michigan on Nov. 29. He has reached double figures in 11 games, and had one double-double with 10 points and 10 assists in the 86-79 win over Baylor on Nov. 18.

His playmaking has nearly matched his assist total of last season. He has dished out at least six assists in seven games.

Beekman had a career-high 20 points last year vs. Clemson on Dec. 22, 2021. He had 12 points in last year’s loss at NC State.

Beekman was ranked No. 72 overall in the class of 2020 by Rivals.com, coming out of Baton Rouge (La.) Scotlandville High.

NC State

PG — 1 Jarkel Joiner (6-1, 180, R-Sr., 16.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 3.2 apg, 1.2 spg)

SG — 0 Terquavion Smith (6-4, 165, Soph., 18.5 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 4.6 apg, 1.7 spg)

G — 14 Casey Morsell (6-3, 200, R-Jr., 12.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.0 apg, 1.2 spg)

PF — 23 Greg Gantt (6-8, 215, R-Jr., 2.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 0.4 apg, 1.0 spg)

C — 30 D.J. Burns (6-9, 275, R-Jr., 12.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.6 apg)

Virginia

0 Kihei Clark (5-10 167, Sr., 11.6 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 6.0 apg, 1.2 spg)

2 Reece Beekman (6-3, 190, Jr., 10.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 5.1 apg, 1.3 spg)

4 Armaan Franklin (6-4, 200, Sr., 12.7 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 1.3 apg, 1.0 spg)

5 Ben Vander Plas (6-8, 236, Sr., 7.3 ppg 4.6 rpg, 1.7 apg)

1 Jayden Gardner (6-6, 233, Sr., 11.2 ppg, 5.1 rpg 0.5 apg, 1.0 spg)

4 Categories Virginia leads the ACC in — scoring defense (60.9) three-point percentage (38.2), assists per game (16.4) and assist/turnover ration (1.76).

50 UVA is 50-44 against ranked foes in the coach Tony Bennett era, with NC State entering the polls at No. 22.

70 Virginia is 11-0 when reaching 70 or more points this season.

Virginia has a true center off the bench with starting experience, but have decided to play its top five scorers together.

The 6-6, 233-pound Jayden Gardner has been a double digit scorer all five years of college — three at East Carolina and two at Virginia.

Gardner’s numbers are a little down this season, but not over the last three games. He has picked things up with 55 points and 24 rebounds over his last three games, including going for 20 points and 10 rebounds at Virginia Tech last Saturday. That was the second time he scored at least 20 points and his second double-double of the season.

Gardner, who attended nearby Wake Forest (N.C.) Heritage, was a standout at East Carolina right away. He averaged 16.3 points and 8.5 rebounds per game his freshman year. He has been impressively consistent with 2,235 career points and 1,036 rebounds in 137 games.

NC State played against NC State last year, and had 13 points and three rebounds in the Wolfpack’s 77-63 victory.

NC State redshirt junior center D.J. Burns could match up against Gardner at times. The 6-9, 275-pounder is averaging 12.1 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, and he’s shooting 55.5 percent from the field.

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