By Scott Ratcliffe

Virginia once again had to overcome another deficit on the road, but survived with a hard-fought, 73-66 victory over Boston College Saturday at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill.

The 17th-ranked Cavaliers (18-3, 7-2 ACC) trailed the entire contest until a Sam Lewis three-point play gave UVA a 41-38 edge early in the second half.

The Eagles (9-12, 2-6) regained the upper hand midway through the period, but the Wahoos took it back on a Jacari White triple with 9:51 remaining and never looked back.

With the Eagles trailing and in need of a big win, they were in desperation mode as the seconds continued to dwindle. Freshman guard Chance Mallory was partly responsible for the dagger play, as he drew a pair of BC defenders before laying it off to an open Ugonna Onyenso for an easy jam, giving the Hoos their largest lead of the afternoon, 72-64, as the clock went under one minute.

UVA shot 44 percent (28 for 64) from the field, just 17 percent from long range (4 of 23) and 72 percent (13 for 18) from the charity stripe.

The Cavaliers outrebounded BC by a 39-33 margin and scored more than half of their points (44 of them) from inside the paint, pulling down 14 offensive boards and converting those into 9 second-chance points. Virginia’s bench outscored BC’s, 28-1.

Boston College had things working early on, taking its largest lead of the game, 28-21, with six minutes left in the opening stanza. The Eagles shot at a 50-percent clip before halftime, maintaining a 32-27 edge at the break.

Virginia knotted the score at 38-all on a Malik Thomas pump fake and bucket in the early stages of the second half. After Lewis put his team in front for the first time, UVA quickly extended it to a 7-point advantage on an emphatic and-1 power jam by Onyenso, followed by another sweet move inside by Thomas to make it a 50-43 contest.

BC responded with a 9-0 spurt of its own to retake the lead at 52-50 with 11 minutes to go. From there, neither side led by more than 4 points until Mallory drew contact and scored in the lane to give the Hoos a 68-62 lead with 2:36 remaining.

The Cavaliers, who are now 8-2 away from Charlottesville (6-1 in true road contests) this season, were paced by Thijs De Ridder, who scored a team-best 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting, adding 5 rebounds. Thomas chipped in with 14 points, while Mallory added 11 and 6 rebounds off the bench. White was the only Wahoo to connect on multiple 3-pointers, making 2 of his 5 attempts for 8 points on the day.

A familiar name to longtime Cavalier fans, Donald Hand Jr. led BC with a game-high 20 points while also dishing out a game-high 4 assists. Three other Eagles starters finished in double figures — sophomore guard Fred Payne had 17 points, while Boden Kapke had 14 and Jayden Hastings added 12 — with the rest of the team contributing just three points.

BC converted 24 of 51 field-goal attempts (47 percent), including just 3 of 13 from 3-point land (23 percent), and shot 58 percent (15 of 26) from the free-throw line.

Team Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

• No. 17 Virginia improved to 18-3, 7-2 ACC
• UVA is 8-2 away from home including a 6-1 mark in true road games
• UVA scored 44 points in the paint and had 28 bench points
• UVA had a season-low four 3-pointers (23 attempts)
• UVA’s first lead came at 15:31 of the second half (41-38)
• UVA shot 2 of 16 from 3-point range in the first half and trailed 32-27
• Former Cavaliers Sam Hauser and Donald Hand sat courtside

Series Notes

• Virginia is 23-9 all-time vs. Boston College in a series that dates to 1971-72
• UVA has won 16 of the last 19 games in the series
• The Cavaliers are 6-7 against the Eagles in Chestnut Hill

Player Notes

• Double Figure Scorers: Thijs De Ridder (17), Malik Thomas (14), Chance Mallory (11)
• De Ridder has reached double figures in 17 games
• Thomas has reached double figures in 15 games (70 career)
• Mallory has reached double figures in 14 games
• Ugonna Onyenso (2 blocks) has multiple blocks in 12 games
• Onyenso added seven points and a team-high seven rebounds
• UVA started Johann Grünloh, Sam Lewis, Dallin Hall, Thomas and De Ridder for the 20th game

UP NEXT

Virginia returns home for a pair of games this week at John Paul Jones Arena — Tuesday vs. Pitt at 9 p.m. (ACC Network), and then Syracuse comes to town next Saturday at noon.

Saturday’s ACC Scoreboard

Virginia 73, Boston College 66
Duke 72, Virginia Tech 58
Clemson 63, Pitt 52
North Carolina 91, Georgia Tech 75
Louisville 88, SMU 74
NC State 96, Wake Forest 78
California 86, Miami 85
Florida State 88, Stanford 80
Syracuse 86, Notre Dame 72