Gardner sparks U.Va. to comeback win
Virginia’s Jayden Gardner scored 23 points, and the Cavaliers rallied in the second half Saturday to boost their flagging NCAA Tournament at-large hopes by defeating the host Miami Hurricanes 74-71.
U.Va. (17-10, 11-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) went scoreless for the final 5:06 of the first half, yielding nine consecutive points to fall behind 38-30 at the intermission.
But after Miami scored the first basket of the second half, a 23-4 run put the Cavaliers in front 53-44. The Hurricanes came as close as two but never caught up, and Kody Stattmann virtually clinched the victory with two foul shots for a 74-69 lead at the 6-second mark.
Kihei Clark had 17 points for U.Va., and Kadin Shedrick came off the bench to provide 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Kameron McGusty scored 20 to head four double-digit scorers for Miami (19-8, 11-5), which most analysts perceive as being on the “good side” of the NCAA bubble. The Canes’ three-game winning streak ended.
Wake Forest 79, Notre Dame 74: Alondes Williams scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half, Jake LaRavia added 20 points and Wake Forest won in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Williams had 13 points in the last 10 minutes, including a layup at the 4:20 mark that put the Demon Deacons up for good 67-66. Former Virginia Tech player Khadim Sy then blocked an Irish shot and scored on a jump hook on the other end.
Sy had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Wake Forest (21-7, 11-6). Blake Wesley had six 3-pointers and 24 points for Notre
Dame (19-8, 12-4).
Wake Forest had 16 secondchance points to four for the Fighting Irish.
Syracuse 76, Boston College 56: Buddy Boeheim and Cole Swider scored 18 points each, Jimmy Boeheim added a double-double and the Orange won at home.
Jimmy Boeheim scored 13 points and had 10 rebounds and Joseph Girard III had four 3-pointers and 16 points for Syracuse (14-12, 8-7), which has won
five of its past six games.
James Karnik had 11 rebounds and 11 points to lead the Eagles (9-16, 4-11), who have lost five in a row. DeMarr Langford scored 10 points, but didn’t play in the second half.
Syracuse shot 51% and was 10 of 23 from the arc. The Eagles shot 35% and only 18% on 3-pointers (5 of 28).
Louisville 70, Clemson 61: Noah Locke scored 15 points off the bench, Louisville interim coach Mike Pegues picked up his first
win and the Cardinals defeated Clemson at home.
The win snaps a seven-game losing streak for Louisville (12-14, 6-10) in which six losses were to teams with double-digit wins in the ACC. Pegues was the coach for five of the losses after replacing Chris Mack.
Malik Williams scored to put the Cardinals ahead for good, 54-53, with 6:32 remaining.
Al-Amir Dawes scored 18 points, all on 3-pointers, for the Tigers (12-15, 4-12).