SENIOR TRANSFER LEADS CAVS PAST ’CANES
Sam Hauser never got to experience playing in front of a packed John Paul Jones Arena because of attendance limitations caused by the pandemic, but the senior transfer made sure he and Virginia would have something to celebrate after his final home game.
Virginia 62, Miami 51
Hauser scored 18 points and the 21st-ranked Cavaliers ended a three-game skid by handing Miami its sixth loss in a row, 62-51 on Monday night.
“To be honest, fans or no fans, we got a win tonight,” Hauser said. “My family was here to see me play. We played well as a team. I couldn’t ask for much more.”
Cavaliers coach Tony Bennett said one of his biggest regrets this season is that fans were not able to fill the arena and appreciate Hauser’s versatility in person.
“He gave us a big lift at different times and he’s playing some good basketball heading down the stretch,” Bennett said of Hauser, who transferred from Marquette.
Trey Murphy III added 12 points for the Cavaliers (16-6, 12-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who took command with a 14-2 run to end the first half.
Virginia also got 20 points from its bench, led by Justin McKoy with eight.
“We’ve been playing five guys such heavy minutes and tonight, to be able to go to our bench when that group wasn’t as sharp as they needed to be was very important,” Bennett said.
Miami closed within six points several times after halftime, but each time Virginia kept the Hurricanes from getting closer.
Kameron McGusty scored 14 points and Elijah Olaniyi had 12 for Miami (7-16, 3-15), which was trying to make Jim Larranaga the 16th coach to win 100 ACC games in his career. Miami scored 18 points in the paint in the first half but only eight after halftime.
No. 17 Oklahoma State 79, No. 16 Oklahoma 75: Cade Cunningham scored 13 of his 15 points in the final 10 minutes to help the host Cowboys (17-6, 10-6 Big 12) defeat the rival Sooners (14-8, 9-7), completing a sweep of two games in three days.
West
Oregon 80, Arizona 69: Chris Duarte scored 22 points, Eugene Omoruyi added 21 and the host Ducks (17-5, 12-4 Pac-12) ended the Wildcats’ season on a down note. Arizona (17-9, 11-9) self-imposed a oneyear postseason ban, including the Pac-12 Tournament, following a NCAA investigation. The Ducks have won three straight and 8 of 9.
Colorado State 74, Air Force 44: David Roddy had 22 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Rams (16-4, 13-3 Mountain West) past the Falcons (5-19, 317).
Notable
The NIT is moving the entire 2021 event to Texas, taking the semifinals and championship game out of New York’s Madison Square Garden for the first time in the 83-year history of college basketball’s oldest postseason tournament.
The pandemic is also reducing the field to 16 teams from the usual 32, and all games are set for the Dallas area. The two venues are the University of North Texas in Denton and an arena in Frisco that is home to a G League team affiliated with the Dallas Mavericks.
No. 11 Florida State extended coach Leonard Hamilton’s contract through the 202425 season. The deal is set to keep Hamilton on the FSU sideline until he is 76 years old. It will pay about $562,500 for the remainder of this season and then about $2.3 million for each of the next four seasons.