Virginia braces for stern test at home vs. No. 21 Memphis

With a long track record of home success against non-conference foes, Virginia will face its toughest test of the season Wednesday night when No. 21 Memphis visits Charlottesville, Va.The Cavaliers (6-4) are 5-0 at home this season and 103-10 at John Paul Jones Arena against out-of-conference teams since 2009-10.However, Virginia also is 0-3 this season against Top 25 opponents, losing to then-No. 11 Tennessee, then-No. 22 St. John’s and then-No. 13 Florida by a combined 65 points.Meanwhile Memphis (8-2) improved to 5-0 against Atlantic Coast Conference teams under seventh-year coach Penny Hardaway with Saturday’s 87-82 overtime road win vs. then-No. 16 Clemson.The victory vaulted the Tigers back into the AP Top 25 this week. They were ranked 16th on the strength of November wins against UConn and Michigan State before a stunning 85-72 home loss to Arkansas State on Dec. 8.”I would say this is the biggest win of the season, even though we’ve beaten UConn,” Hardaway said after the victory in Clemson, S.C. “We’ve beaten Michigan State. Great teams. (But) to come into this building after losing a game — having a hiccup, in our minds, against Arkansas State — to get a win is just a blessing.”We showed who we were again today.”Tyrese Hunter led Memphis with 23 points against Clemson, including seven 3-pointers, and Colby Rogers added 22 points. Dain Dainja tallied seven of his 11 points in the second half and overtime, including two layups to send the game to OT and two clutch free throws with 15.3 seconds left.For the season, PJ Haggerty leads the Tigers in average scoring (21.9), assists (3.5) and steals (2.2). Hunter (16.0), Rogers (13.4) and Dainja (10.9) also are scoring in double figures, and Dainja leads the team in rebounding (6.3).