No. 21 Virginia Wins 62-51 on Senior Night

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 21 Virginia (16-6, 12-4 ACC) sent its seniors out with a 62-51 win over Miami (7-16, 3-15 ACC) on Monday night at John Paul Jones Arena.

With the win, Virginia secured a double bye in the ACC Tournament.

Sam Hauser (Stevens Point, Wis.) led the Cavaliers with 18 points and had six rebounds. Trey Murphy III (Durham, N.C.) added 12 points and six rebounds. Justin McKoy (Cary, N.C.) had eight points with six rebounds and Jay Huff (Durham, N.C.) had a team-high seven rebounds.

Virginia shot 40 percent from the floor and 36 percent beyond the arc, while Miami was 38 percent from the field and 27 percent from 3-point range. UVA led in rebounds (35-32) and had 20 points from the bench. Kameron McGusty led Miami with 14 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The teams traded the lead early in the first half. Miami was up 28-27 with 4:11 to play in the first half. Virginia closed the half on a 14-2 run that included back-to-back threes from Hauser. The Cavaliers led 41-30 at the break.

Reece Beekman (Baton Rouge, La.) scored a layup to open the second half. Miami went on a 7-0 run to cut UVA’s lead to 43-37. The Hurricanes pulled within six, 55-49, with 3:07 remaining. Beekman hit a layup then Hauser added a three before Chase Coleman () sealed the win for the Cavaliers with a layup.

THE GAME BALL GOES TO

Justin McKoy had eight points, six rebounds and two steals off the bench.

FROM TONY BENNETT

On Justin McCoy’s play off the bench:

“I love it. I love his heart and his energy it’s that way of practice. He started earlier in the year and then he’s gone through a patch where he didn’t play as much, but his work ethic and his effort has never wavered. He injected offensive rebounding, a couple of buckets and just toughness and effort. That was so lacking, so it was really important. That’s what this team needs and he brought that. I like what I saw on him really the last couple games and then some more in practice. I was really happy for Justin and his contributions to this game and hopefully moving forward.”

NOTES

• The Cavaliers clinched a top-4 seed and double-bye in the ACC Tournament
• UVA has 12 or more ACC wins for the fourth straight year
• Virginia honored seniors Jay Huff, Sam Hauser, Tomas Woldetensae and Austin Katstra, and managers Matt Palumbo and Carter Furr in a pregame ceremony
• UVA owned a 20-2 advantage in bench points

UP NEXT

Virginia closes the regular season at Louisville on Saturday, March 6 at 4 p.m. at the KFC Yum! Center. The game will be broadcast on ESPN/2.