Virginia Cruises to 79-44 Victory over Morgan State in Non-Conference Finale

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia Cavaliers (10-2, 1-0 ACC) rounded out non-conference action in a 79-44 win over Morgan State (4-11) on Wednesday night (Dec. 27) at John Paul Jones Arena.

UVA guard Reece Beekman led all scorers with 17 points and seven assists, and teammates Leon Bond III (10 points, seven rebounds), Jake Groves (10 points, three 3-pointers) and Andrew Rohde (10 points, three steals) also scored in double figures.

HOW IT HAPPENED
After opening up to an 8-4 lead over Morgan State at the first media timeout, the Cavaliers began to pull away from the visitors with a swift 6-0 run. Virginia continued its hot shooting and closed out the first half by outscoring the Bears 26-6, with Ryan Dunn capping off the first half with a ferocious dunk to give the Hoos a 43-16 lead at the break.

Virginia shot 53 percent (18-for-34) from the field and 46 percent (5-for-11) from beyond the arc in the first half. The Cavaliers held the Bears to just 23 percent shooting (6-for-23) from the field and 33 percent (1-for-3) from 3-point range.

The two sides traded buckets for a majority of the second stanza, with neither team able to string together sizable scoring runs. Virginia broke this seal with two separate 7-0 runs to put the game away, with the final scoring stretch coming in the final two minutes of the contest.

UP NEXT
Virginia returns to ACC action at Notre Dame on Saturday, Dec. 30. Tipoff at Purcell Pavilion is set for noon on ACC Network.