National Basketball Association
Virginia 66, Miami-Florida 58
When: 7:00 PM ET, Tuesday, January 12, 2016
Where: John Paul Jones Arena, Charlottesville, Virginia
Officials:
# Jeffrey Anderson, # Tim Clougherty, # Tim Nestor
Attendance:
13495
By The Sports Xchange
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- The last time Virginia welcomed a team to John Paul Jones Arena that was ranked higher than the Cavaliers came on March 1, 2014.
That day, Virginia was ranked 12th and knocked off No. 4 Syracuse en route to capturing their first outright ACC regular-season title in 33 years.
On Tuesday, No. 13 Virginia broke a two-game losing streak with an impressive 66-58 victory eighth-ranked Miami as the Cavaliers improved to 8-0 at home this season.
The Cavaliers had dropped their previous two contests to unranked Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech, but bounced back in a big way to notch their second ACC victory of the year.
"We never took control of this game," Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. "It was a hard fought game, very physical. We took a step in the right direction in terms of our physicality and our patience, but we've got a lot of work to do."
Cavaliers guard Malcolm Brogdon overcame a sluggish start to score a game-high 20 points.
Forward Anthony Gill put in 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while guard London Perrantes scored all 13 of his points in the second half for Virginia (13-3, 2-2 ACC).
Perrantes' one-hand floater with 1:06 remaining in the game gave the Cavaliers a 61-56 advantage, which they held on to for the remaining minute.
"I just got into the paint and I knew I couldn't get fully to the rim," Perrantes said of the shot. "I knew I had to get a shot off and that's the only one I could get off."
After trailing by four at halftime, Miami (13-2, 2-1) opened the second half on a 7-0 run to take a 30-27 lead. There were 14 lead changes.
"We will just keep grinding away," Bennett said. "That's how we have to do it."
The Cavaliers shot 51 percent, just above their season average of 49 percent, and outrebounded the Hurricanes 35-27.
"I told the team before the game that this was a game of who can execute better," Miami coach Jim Larranaga said. "Especially down the stretch, and unfortunately for us it was them. They got to the foul line way too often in the second half and we did not."
Virginia finished 16 for 21 at the free-throw line while Miami was 10 for 17.
The Hurricanes were led by guard Angel Rodriguez's 17 points while guard Sheldon McClellan, who came in leading Miami in scoring, added 13.
"I thought the second half we came out and played well," Larranaga said. "In the last 10 minutes we missed some open threes that I think were great shots. We normally shoot better than 42 percent and we need to get better production from our team. We only had three guys in double figures."
The Hurricanes entered the game shooting 49.7 percent on the year.
Both teams were sluggish in the first 20 minutes as they struggled to get anything going on the offensive end.
Virginia shot a respectable 46 percent in the half, but committed five turnovers and failed to knock down a shot behind the three-point arc.
The Cavaliers led 27-23 at halftime.
The Hurricanes were held to just 36 percent shooting as they were led by Rodriguez, who put in six points.
Virginia was led by center Mike Tobey, who scored 12 points and pulled down seven rebounds.
Miami scored two points over the first seven minutes as Virginia's defense held them in check. The Cavaliers used a 13-7 run to open the game before the Hurricanes reeled off seven straight points to take their first lead of the game at 14-13 with eight minutes to play in the half.
NOTES: Virginia G London Perrantes is averaging 20.3 points in three career games against Miami. ... Miami fell to 14-7 since 1985 when ranked in the top 10 in at least one poll. ... The Hurricanes own a 10-8 all-time record against Virginia in a series that dates back to 1965. ... Gill has scored in double figures in all 16 games for Virginia this season. ... Miami entered the game averaging 82.8 points per game but was held to a season low.
Top Game Performances
Miami-Florida |
|
Virginia |
Angel Rodriguez 17 |
Scoring |
Malcolm Brogdon 20 |
James Palmer 3 |
Assists |
Anthony Gill 3 |
Tonye Jekiri 6 |
Rebounds |
Anthony Gill 8 |
Sheldon McClellan 4 |
Free Throws Made |
London Perrantes 6 |
Tonye Jekiri 1 |
Steals |
Anthony Gill 1 |
Kamari Murphy 1 |
Blocks |
Anthony Gill 1 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Miami-Florida
|
58 |
42.0 |
6-22 |
10-17 |
8 |
24 |
1 |
5 |
9 |
Virginia
|
66 |
51.1 |
2-7 |
16-21 |
12 |
29 |
3 |
1 |
11 |