Sam Hauser scored six of his 18 points in overtime as No. 15 Virginia escaped with a 71-64 victory over Kent State on Friday night in Charlottesville, Va.
Hauser scored the first five points in the extra period for the Cavaliers (3-1), hitting a layup with 3:16 left and a 3-pointer with 47 seconds remaining. He added a free throw with 17 seconds to play.
Kent State's Danny Pippen sent the game into overtime with a second-chance 3-pointer at the buzzer, but the Golden Flashes (1-1) missed their first eight shots in OT before Malique Jacobs' layup with 20 seconds left.
Kent State made only 1 of 11 shots in overtime, missing all six attempts from 3-point range.
Jay Huff added 18 points and 11 rebounds for Virginia and Kihei Clark scored 14 points. The Cavaliers improved to 81-7 in nonconference action at home under head coach Tony Bennett.
Mike Nuga scored a game-high 20 points for Kent State, with Pippen adding 13 and Justyn Hamilton chipping in 12 points. The Golden Flashes fell to 12-34 all-time against current members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The game featured eight ties and 13 lead changes.
Kent State scored 17 points off 12 Virginia turnovers, but was plagued by foul trouble. Virginia made 22 of 30 free throws in the game, compared to 5 of 6 for the Golden Flashes.
UVA led 29-22 at halftime and was ahead by nine early in the second half before the Golden Flashes started to heat up.
Pippen's hook shot in the paint put Kent State on top 38-37 with 12:55 left, its first lead since it was 9-7.
The lead seesawed over the next eight-plus minutes, with neither side up by more than three until Nuga's steal and layup put the Golden Flashes ahead 56-52 with 4:14 remaining.
Virginia surged back ahead at the free throw line, going 6-for-6 in the final two minutes. The last two by Huff gave the Cavaliers a 62-59 lead with 38 seconds remaining.
--Field Level Media
Kent St. | Virginia | |
Mike Nuga 20 | Scoring | Sam Hauser 18 |
Malique Jacobs 3 | Assists | Sam Hauser 4 |
Mike Nuga 6 | Rebounds | Jay Huff 11 |
Malique Jacobs 3 | Free Throws Made | Kihei Clark 9 |
Malique Jacobs 4 | Steals | Reece Beekman 2 |
N/A | Blocks | Jay Huff 2 |