COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Miami beats No. 18 Virginia 54-48 in overtime in Charlottesville,
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Bruce Brown had a tough night from the field, and yet, with the ball in his hands and Miami in need of a basket, the freshman guard put his faith in loads of summertime shooting work.
Brown made a 3-pointer with 23.8 seconds left in overtime and the Hurricanes beat No. 18 Virginia 54-48 on Monday night for the Cavaliers’ fourth straight loss.
“I caught it in rhythm, and my only thought was to put it up because he was playing a bit off me,” Brown said.
The 3-pointer was only his second field goal of the night, but it gave Miami a 50-48 lead.
Brown scored 14 points to lead the Hurricanes (19-8, 9-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) to their third consecutive victory, moving them out of a tie with Virginia and into sixth in the league. Kamari Murphy and Dejan Vasiljevic added 10 points each.
“I think this young team is finally catching our stride,” senior guard Davon Reed said. “To be able to pull three in a row out is big for us.”
Devon Hall scored 15 points to lead Virginia (18-9, 8-7), which lost its fourth in a row for the first time since Tony Bennett’s first season as coach in 200910. Isaiah Wilkins added 10 points and 10 rebounds, including two free throws with four seconds left in regulation to tie it.
“It was there for the taking, and we didn’t,” Bennett said. “It’s where we’re at. Our inexperience is showing.”
Bennett especially lamented that the Cavaliers couldn’t pull it out on a night they honored last year’s ACC player of the year and defensive player of the year Malcolm Brogdon, now with the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks, by retiring his No. 15 jersey.
The offensively challenged Cavaliers used 12-0 run in a span of 2:24 to open a 35-24 lead with 12 minutes to play, but just as quickly, they went cold, not scoring for nearly six minutes thereafter.
“I think our defense tightened up,” Miami coach Jim Larranaga said. “We played a little smaller group, and that worked pretty effectively.”
No. 19 Florida State 104, Boston College 72
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A short turnaround ended up being the perfect remedy for Florida State.
The 19th-ranked Seminoles were playing their second game in three days, but bounced back from Saturday’s loss at Pittsburgh in a big way, routing Boston College 104-72 on Monday night.
“A one-day turnaround is sometimes not always the easiest. But I think we did a really, really exceptional job of forgetting about what happened and moving on to the next one,” said point guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes, who had eight points, five rebounds and 10 assists.
Florida State (22-6, 10-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) had all 13 players score at least four points as it extended its home winning streak to 20 games.
Dwayne Bacon, who went scoreless in the Pitt game, led the way with 16 points. The 6-foot-7 guard also became only the second sophomore in school history to go over 1,000 career points. He reached the milestone with a 3-pointer early in the second half.
“In every sport, you are going to have one of those days. He moved on from it and don’t dwell on it,” Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. “He has scored 1,000 points as a sophomore and knows what he needs to do.”
PJ Savoy came off the bench and added
15 points as FSU’s reserves outscored the Eagles 59-2. Jonathan Isaac (14 points) and Jarquez Smith (10) also scored in double figures, and the Seminoles never trailed and led by 34 (7541) six minutes into the second half. They also dominated in the paint with a 52-16 advantage.
Florida State moved into a tie for fourth in the conference standings with Notre Dame as both teams have three games remaining. Hamilton knows what his team can do at home — they are 17-0 at the Tucker Center this season — but he wants to see the same effort on the road with upcoming tests against Clemson (Saturday) and No. 10 Duke (Feb. 28). The top four teams earn a double bye for the conference tournament.
“Obviously we needed to get home and gain a little confidence to being who we are, but I’m glad our next game is on the road. I want to see if we can play with that same level of execution and confidence,” he said.