Bennett Earns 400th Career Win as No. 10 Virginia Fends Off Wake, 76-67

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – No. 10 Virginia (15-3, 7-2 ACC) tallied its fifth consecutive ACC win in a tightly-contested 76-67 road victory over Wake Forest (14-6, 6-3 ACC) Saturday afternoon (Jan. 21) at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Cavaliers led by as many as 19 points in the first half and Wake managed to cut the UVA lead to just one midway through the second half, but the Hoos made stops defensively down the stretch to deliver head coach Tony Bennett’s 400th career win.

Virginia handed the Demon Deacons their first home loss of the season with the help of Armaan Franklin’s first career double-double. Franklin scored a game-high 25 points, including 18 in the first half, and pulled down 10 rebounds. 

Isaac McKneely (11 points, 3-6 3FG) and Ryan Dunn (5 points, 8 rebounds) combined for 16 of UVA’s 18 bench points, while Wake managed to score just two points from its bench. Dunn’s eight rebounds and 30 minutes of action marked career highs for the first year guard.

HOW IT HAPPENED
After missing its first eight shots of the contest, Virginia’s offense erupted midway through the first half by scoring 17 unanswered points to take a 29-14 lead with 8:00 to go in the first stanza. After leading by as many as 19 points in the first half, the Demon Deacons chipped away at the UVA lead as the Cavaliers led 42-32 at the intermission. Franklin’s 18 first-half points led all scorers at the break. He shot 7 for 13 from the field, including 4 for 9 from 3-point range, in the first half. Virginia drained nine 3s and did not turn the ball over in the first 20 minutes of play.

After the Cavaliers opened up the second half with their 10th made 3 of the night from Ben Vander Plas (8 points,7 rebounds), the Demon Deacons responded with a quick 7-0 run to shrink the UVA lead to just six [45-39]. McKneely and Dunn saw significant playing time in the second half after guards Kihei Clark and Reece Beekman got in foul trouble early in the second half. McKneely helped the Cavaliers maintain their lead after scoring five points and registering a block off of the bench in the second half before Wake went on a 9-3 run to bring the game within one [56-55] with 8:33 remaining. After Franklin drained his fifth 3 of the game to put the Hoos up by 10 points with under 90 seconds to play, Wake hit back-to-back 3s to cut the UVA lead to four [71-67], but after that the Cavaliers held Wake scoreless for the rest of the game and went 5 for 6 at the charity stripe to seal their seventh ACC win.

THE GAME BALL GOES TO:
Armaan Franklin. Franklin tallied a game-high 25 points, just one shy of tying his career high. Franklin’s scoring performance marked his fifth 20-point outing of the season, which leads the team. Amid UVA’s 22-1 run in the first half, Franklin accounted for 16 UVA points. He set career highs in field goals made (9), field goals attempted (19), and 3-point field goal attempts (15). Franklin also tied his career high of five triples for the seventh time of his career. On the glass, Franklin grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds – five in each half.

UP NEXT
The Cavaliers host Boston College (9-11, 3-6 ACC) on Saturday (Jan. 28). Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for Noon on Regional Sports Networks.