Johnson, Hall lead No. 16 Virginia past Davidson 80-60

Dec. 16, 2017

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) Nigel Johnson scored 22 points and Devon Hall had a career-high 20 Saturday for No. 16 Virginia, which returned from a break for final exams to beat Davidson 80-60.

Kyle Guy added 19 points for the Cavaliers (9-1), who were playing for the first time since losing 68-61 to No. 11 West Virginia on Dec. 5.

The Wildcats (4-4), also playing for the first time in 11 days, got 20 points from Peyton Aldridge and 12 from Oskar Michelsen. They made only 8 of 26 3-point attempts.

Davidson led 18-11 with nine minutes left in the first half, but Guy hit a 3-pointer as Virginia started to shake off its rust. Guy’s basket sparked a 26-11 burst to end the half. Johnson scored 11 of his points in the run, and Hall hit a pair of 3-pointers.

BIG PICTURE

Davidson: The Wildcats lead the nation by averaging 13.1 3-pointers, and when they hit four early, they led 14-6. But Virginia stiffened its defense and forced them to go late in the shot clock, leading to lower percentage attempts. That’s not as likely to happen in Atlantic 10 play.

Virginia: Hall’s steadily improved scoring has taken some of the pressure off Guy, the Cavaliers’ top scorer. When a player like Johnson also has a big game, their typically stout defense often wears teams down, leading to offensive impatience.

UP NEXT

Davidson will face New Mexico State in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic on Friday night.

Virginia is at home against Savannah State, its next-to-last non-conference game, on Tuesday night.

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