CAVALIERS HOLD OFF IRISH TO OPEN ACC
Virginia’s momentary shakiness against surging Notre Dame reminded Cavaliers coach Tony Bennett of a toy from the 1970s.
“Weebles wobble, but they don’t fall down,” Bennett said after the No. 23 Cavaliers relinquished almost all of an 11-point second-half lead, then pulled away late for a 66-57 victory over the host Fighting Irish on Wednesday night.
“Our young guys don’t know what that is,” Bennett said of the old-time toy, “but we wobbled a couple times, but we didn’t fall down.”
Kihei Clark had 19 points and five assists as Virginia continued its string of dominance over Notre Dame.
The Cavaliers (5-2, 1-0) improved to 12-0 in Atlantic Coast Conference openers under Bennett and 10-0 in ACC regular-season matchups against the Irish.
Jay Huff scored 15 points for Virginia. Sam Hauser added 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Notre Dame (3-5, 0-2) fell despite a career-high 28 points from Nate Laszewski. The junior forward hit 8 of 11 shots from the field with four 3-pointers to go with 8 of 10 at the line.
Juwan Durham added 19 points for the Irish.
The Cavaliers led at every count except 2-2 and were up 35-24 by early in the second half, but the Irish twice clawed within one point, the last time at 47-46 with 8:26 remaining.
No. 2 Baylor 105, Alcorn State 76: Macio Teague had 18 points to lead six players scoring in double figures for host Baylor, which beat Alcorn State (0-5) for its second lopsided victory in a 23hour span. Jared Butler added 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting and Matthew Mayer had 14 points for the Bears (8-0). Davion Mitchell, Jordan Turner and Zach Loveday each scored 10. Baylor is the only Big 12 team without a loss.
No. 7 Tennessee 73, No. 12 Missouri 53: Santiago Vescovi scored 15 points and teammates Yves Pons and Jaden Springer each added 13 as visiting Tennessee (7-0) built on a 13-point halftime lead to defeat Missouri (6-1) in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.
No. 25 Ohio State 90, Nebraska 54: Justin Ahrens came off the bench to score 18 points and freshman Zed Key added 14 points on 5for-5 shooting as Ohio State used balanced scoring to beat visiting Nebraska (4-6, 0-3 Big Ten) for its third win in four games. Duane Washing ton Jr. added 13 points, Justice Sueing 12 and Seth Towns 11 as Ohio State (8-2, 2-2) got points from 10 players.
West
Colorado State 81, Fresno State 59: David Roddy recorded 17 points and 11 rebounds to lift Colorado State to a home win over Fresno State (2-2, 0-2 Mountain West). P.J. Byrd had 14 points for Colorado State (5-1, 2-0). Isaiah Rivera added 11 points and six rebound.
Saint Mary’s 63, Sacramento State 45: Tommy Kuhse scored 17 points and added six rebounds and seven assists as the host Gaels (9-1) cruised to the victory over the Hornets (3-1).