Cavaliers use late surge to escape BC with 72-68 win

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Posted on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, 2:17 am

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By Scott Ratcliffe

Photo: UVA Athletics

Virginia came into Wednesday’s game in Chestnut Hill needing a big conference victory on the road against Boston College to keep its NCAA Tournament hopes alive.

Thanks to a late surge, the Cavaliers walked out of Conte Forum with a hard-fought, 72-68 win to stay in third place in the ACC standings with two games remaining.

Reece Beekman led the charge with team-highs of 18 points and 8 assists, while Isaac McKneely connected on back-to-back triples, followed by another deep ball by Jake Groves, part of an 11-0 run that turned a 3-point UVA deficit into a 59-51 advantage as the clock went under five minutes.

The Eagles (15-13, 6-11) continued to chip away, cutting Virginia’s lead down to two points, 70-68, with 29.2 seconds to play, but were forced to foul McKneely — the team’s best free-throw shooter coming into the contest at 89 percent — on the ensuing inbound pass, and the second-year guard knocked down a pair with 25.1 ticks showing to put the Wahoos ahead to stay.

The win marked the third season in a row for Virginia with at least 21 wins (21-8, 12-6 ACC), and the 12th time under Tony Bennett.

In the early going, UVA shook off its recent offensive struggles for the most part, jumping out to a quick 11-2 lead in the opening minutes and leading the entire first half, in what many considered a “must-win” scenario for the Cavaliers’ tournament implications.

After BC trimmed its deficit to a single point, 27-26, to begin the second half, Virginia used a 9-2 spurt and held a 36-28 edge on a Ryan Dunn fadeaway jumper at the 16-minute mark.

Dunn split a pair from the stripe moments later to make it 39-33 lead before the Eagles reeled off 7 unanswered points to take their first lead of the night on a Devin McGlockton alley-oop jam with 12:50 to play, forcing Bennett to burn a timeout.

After a Groves triple put the Hoos back on top, 48-47, with just over 9 minutes to go, BC regained the lead on a Jaeden Zackery bucket the next trip down, and then Prince Aligbe came up with a steal and a score to give his team a 3-point edge heading into the under-8 media break.

McKneely sank his second 3-ball of the game out of the timeout to tie it at 51-all, then drilled another from the left wing on the Cavaliers’ ensuing possession with 6:26 on the clock, and the Hoos would not trail again.

After a BC miss on the other end, Groves connected from nearly the same spot to push the lead to 57-51, and then Beekman, who had assisted on each of the aforementioned 3-pointers, delivered a left-handed, cross-court dime to a wide-open Andrew Rohde in the right corner for 3 more, and UVA led 63-55 with 3:42 remaining.

The Cavaliers limited the Eagles’ top scorer, Quinten Post, to just 4 points on 2-of-8 shooting in the first half, but the senior 7-footer put up 20 after halftime, including 9 in a row during one stretch to trim BC’s deficit to four with 2:47 to play.

Post wound up defending Beekman on the next trip down, and the fourth-year point guard used a nifty spin move to make it 66-60 with 2:28 left. Blake Buchanan’s jumper with 1:23 on the clock gave the Hoos a 70-63 advantage, but Post quickly scored and then Mason Madsen converted a three-point play with 29.2 seconds left to cut it to two and make things interesting, but McKneely was able to seal the win from the foul line just seconds later.

UVA shot 44 percent (24 for 54) for the game, including 38 percent (8 of 21) from 3-point range. The Hoos went 16 for 22 (73 percent) at the charity stripe and prevailed on the boards, 37-30, turning the ball over only 5 times, which led to 10 BC points.

In addition to Beekman’s big night, McKneely finished with 14 points (3 for 6 from deep) and a pair of steals, Groves had 13 (also 3 of 6), and Dunn added 8 points and a career-best 13 rebounds to go along with a block and a steal.

The Eagles shot 41 percent on the evening (24 of 58) from the field, 23 percent from long distance (5 for 22), and 83 percent from the free-throw line (15 for 18). In addition to his game-high 24 points, Post led BC with 10 rebounds and 2 blocks, while Zackery (12 points) and Madsen (10 points) also finished in double figures.

Team Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

  • UVA (21-8, 12-6 ACC) secured its third straight season with 21 or more wins and 12th under head coach Tony Bennett
  • UVA is 5-5 in true road games and 7-6 away from home overall
  • UVA gained a 57-51 lead after a trio of 3-pointers
  • BC gained its first lead at 40-39 after a 7-0 run
  • UVA led 27-23 at halftime, improving to 19-0 when leading after 20 minutes
  • UVA went on a 9-0 run to gain an 11-2 lead, limiting BC to 1 of 11 shooting with a pair of turnovers
  • UVA out-rebounded BC 37-30
  • Virginia is 167-11 all-time when scoring 70 or more points under Bennett (10-0 in 2023-24)

Series Notes

  • Virginia is 20-9 all-time vs. Boston College, including a 15-9 ACC mark, in the series that dates to 1971-72
  • UVA has won 13 of the last 15 games in the series
  • UVA is 6-6 against the Eagles in Chestnut Hill
  • Bennett is 14-6 all-time against Boston College

Player Notes

  • Double Figure Scorers: Reece Beekman (18), Isaac McKneely (14), Jake Groves (13)
  • Beekman (18 points) moved into 45th on UVA’s all-time scoring list with 1,113 points
  • Beekman (8 assists) moved into fourth on UVA’s all-time assists list with 594
  • Beekman (5 rebounds) recorded his 400th career rebound
  • Beekman reached double figures for the 54th time (24 in 2023-24)
  • Ryan Dunn had a career-high 13 rebounds
  • Dunn (1 block) is tied for sixth on UVA’s single-season blocks list with 67
  • McKneely reached double figures for the 23rd time
  • Groves reached double figures for the 36th time (10th at UVA)

UP NEXT

Virginia travels to Durham to face second-place and No. 10 Duke on Saturday at 6 p.m. on ESPN.