No. 4 Virginia looks to continue to roll vs. Middle Tennessee

After cruising to their first three wins of the season by an average of 35.5 points, No. 4 Virginia heads to The Bahamas to spend their Thanksgiving holiday.

The Cavaliers open play at the inaugural Battle 4 Atlantis on Wednesday night against Middle Tennessee.

Virginia (3-0) is facing off with Middle Tennessee (3-1) for just the second time with the opportunity to win their sixth straight preseason tournament title.

"Obviously, the competition will step up," Virginia head coach Tony Bennett said. "We're going into a tournament with very good teams and we will have to play 40 minutes. It'll take the majority of the game to be successful in those settings."

Junior guard Ty Jerome has paced Virginia in games against Towson, George Washington and Coppin State, averaging 17 points and 5.7 assists per game. Jerome has knocked down 11 of his 16 three-point attempts and netted 20 points in back-to-back games to start the season.

Middle Tennessee has impressive offensive stats over their first four games but with a lack of competition.

The Blue Raiders' first two wins came against Division II Lees McRae and NAIA Milligan College. In those two triumphs, Middle Tennessee scored 91 and 102 points respectively before dropping their first game of the season 92-73 to Belmont.

Redshirt Junior Antonio Green will be Virginia's focus as he has scored at least 20 points three times already this season and is averaging 22.3 points per game.

"I think it's no secret, he's a scorer," Middle Tennessee head coach Nick McDevitt said. "If he's not scoring, then we have other options...but at the same time, Antonio knows if it's a shot that he practices, then I'm ok with him taking it."

Green is one of five Blue Raiders averaging in double figures so far in the 2018-19 season.

The Blue Raiders will be facing arguably the nation's toughest defense as Virginia enters Wednesday night's game second in the country in scoring defense (46.3).

Virginia has not allowed a team to score 20 points a first half so far this season and recorded the program's third-largest win Friday night with a 97-40 thrashing of Coppin State.

"It will be a lot different because we don't have a home crowd," Virginia's De'Andre Hunter said about playing in The Bahamas. "With that said, it's still a game and we still have to play and do what we do."

Hunter is averaging 14.3 points per game and put up a team-high 20 points against Coppin State. His 20 points made this season's Virginia squad the first to have a player scored 20 or more points in the first three games of a season since 2008-09.

Junior guard Kyle Guy has not been flashy this season for Virginia but is averaging 11.7 points per game and is one of four Cavaliers averaging in double figures. Forward Mamadi Diakite is averaging 10 points per game and scored a career-high 18 points against Coppin State.

This is each team's first appearance in the Battle 4 Atlantis with the winner set to face the winner of the Butler/Dayton matchup on Thursday.