7 p.m., ACCNX/ESPN+

After a big win over Florida in Charlotte on Friday night, UVa returns home on Tuesday to take on North Carolina A&T at JPJ. The matchup is the first of two this week for the Wahoo against HBCU’s, as the Cavaliers look to start 4-0 before heading to the Sunshine State for the Ft. Myers Tip-Off Event, which begins on Monday.

While UVa is off to a 2-0 start, its opponent has yet to win in two tries. NC A&T was obliterated by Pittsburgh in the season opener, falling 100-52 in the Steel City. The Aggies played on the road again on Friday, losing to UNC Greensboro 94-78 in a crosstown matchup.

It could be a long season for NC A&T, which is in its first season under head coach Monte Ross. Last year, the Aggies fired head coach Willie Jones in the fall after he was suspended and had an interim coach through their first season in the CAA. Now Ross, formerly the coach at Delaware and later an assistant at Temple, hopes to turn the program around in a tougher league. The Aggies were picked to finish last in the CAA this season, and didn’t have any players named to the preseason all-conference teams.

North Carolina A&T ranks 356th in KenPom out of 362 D1 teams. In fact, the Aggies are the lowest-ranked opponent on UVa’s schedule, and are one of three ranked 300th or worse (NC Central is 307th, Morgan State 342nd). The Aggies have slightly better metrics on the offensive end than on defense, which shouldn’t come as a huge surprise given the fact that they’ve allowed 194 points in two games.

NC A&T is scoring 65 points per game and ranks 339th nationally in offensive efficiency. The Aggies have taken nearly half of their shots from deep (48.3 percent) but have only made 27.4 percent of those shots. They have gotten up and down the court in both of their games, a trend likely to change dramatically in tomorrow’s game. The Aggies are 77th nationally in tempo and 83rd in average length of offensive possession at just over 15 seconds per. The one area where the Aggies have been pretty solid is taking care of the basketball:Through two games, they rank 30th in turnovers allowed per possession.

Needless to say, given how many points they’ve allowed, the Aggies are struggling on the defensive end of the floor. NC A&T ranks 359th in defensive efficiency, just a few spots above dead last nationally. It doesn’t help that both Pitt and UNCG lit up the Aggies from beyond the arc; those two opponents combined to make 46.6 percent of their three-point attempts. NC A&T also have struggled to force turnovers and have given up a fair number of points in the paint. If there are positives, its that the Aggies haven’t sent opponents to the line a ton, and are top-100 nationally in blocks per possession.

Landon Glasper, Guard

NC A&T’s leading scorer, Glasper had a quiet six-point effort against Pitt before a breakout game against UNCG on Friday. He scored 32 points against the Spartans, shooting 48 percent from the floor and making five 3s in the loss. The sophomore has already taken 23 shots from long tnage and 41 shots total through his first two games with the Aggies.

Kyle Duke, Guard

The 6-foot-4 Canadian was a backup guard for A&T last season but has moved into the starting role as a sophomore. Duke is second on the team in scoring at 11.5 points per game and had 15 in the loss at Pitt. He played in 24 games last year with one start.

Camian Shell, Guard

NC A&T’s starting point guard, Shell is averaging 10 points, four assists, and four rebounds per game in the first two contests of the season. He is also shooting 40 percent from 3, making two of his five attempts this season. Shell had a solid game against UNCG, scoring 11 points, grabbing six boards to go along with six assists.

Jeremy Robinson, Forward

Robinson played prep ball at Paul VI in Virginia before starting his collegiate career at a junior college and ultimately landing at NC A&T. He shares time in the frontcourt with several other players who rotate in and out, and is averaging 6.5 points per contest. Robinson had a career high 17 points against Radford in the 2022 Big South Tournament.

UVa should win this game and do so easily. The non-conference schedule can be split rather easily into games that should test the Hoos and pad their strength of schedule, and almost sure wins. This game is in the latter category.

After the big win over Florida, we’ll see if the Hoos make any lineup changes against the Aggies, particularly, whether Blake Buchanan enters the starting lineup at Jake Groves’ expense. That change is probably not necessary for this game but may be the way the Hoos go in the long run.

Tomorrow’s game should also be an opportunity for Tony Bennett to continue experimenting with lineup combinations and see what they have in bench players that didn’t see much time against the Gators on Friday.