Beekman enjoys night to remember for Cavs
Senior shines as UVA clinches the No. 3 seed
CHARLOTTESVILLE — Reece Beekman finished with 21 points, nine assists and six rebounds on Senior Night as Virginia cruised to a 72-57 victory over Georgia Tech on Sunday, closing out the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season.
The Cavaliers (22-9, 13-7) clinched the third seed and earned a double bye in the conference tournament at Capital Arena in Washington, as well as boosting their NCAA Tournament at-large chances. The Yellow Jackets (14-17, 7-13) tied Notre Dame for 12th place in the 14-team conference.
Georgia Tech and the Fighting Irish will square off to begin the first round Tuesday. Virginia will play on Thursday against No. 6 seed Clemson or the winner of the first-round game between No. 11 seed Boston College and 14th-seed Miami, should the Tigers lose in the second round.
Beekman made 8 of 10 shots from the floor, including three 3-pointers, for Virginia. He is the Cavaliers’ all-time leader in steals, picking up three more. Isaac McKneely sank four 3-pointers and scored 16 points. Taine Murray added 12 points and three assists off the bench. He hit 5 of 10 shots, including two from beyond the arc.
Baye Ndongo was the lone player to reach double figures for Georgia Tech, scoring 21 on 8-for12 shooting. He had nine rebounds and five of the Yellow Jackets’ 12 turnovers.
Virginia has been held to fewer than 50 points six times this season, its most since 1947-48 when it had eight. That wasn’t a problem Saturday at John Paul Jones Arena; the Cavaliers topped 50 on a Jordan Minor layup with 14:23 left to play.
ACC TOURNAMENT (at Capital One Arena in Washington)
First round (Tuesday, ACCN):
No. 1 3 Georgia Tech vs.
No. 1 2 Notre Dame, 2 p.m.
No. 1 5 Louisville vs.
No. 1 0 N.C. State, 4 :3 0 p.m.
No. 1 4 Miami vs.
No. 1 1 Boston College, 7 p.m. Second round (Wednesday, TV TBA):
No. 9 Florida State vs.
No. 8 Virginia Tech, noon
GT-ND winner vs.
No. 5 Wake Forest, 2 :3 0 p.m.
Louisville-NCSU winner vs.
No. 7 Syracuse, 7 p.m.
BC-Miami winner vs.
No.6 Clemson,9:30 p.m.
Quarterfinals (Thursday, TV TBA):
Wednesday’s winners play at the same time Thursday.
TBA vs. No. 1 North Carolina, noon TBA vs. No. 4 Pittsburgh, 2 :3 0 p.m. TBA vs. No. 2 Duke, 7 p.m.
TBA vs. No. 3 Virginia, 9 :3 0 p.m. Semifinals (Friday, TV TBA): Thursday afternoon winners, 7 p.m. Thursday night winners, 9:30 p.m. Final (Saturday, ESPN):
Friday winners, 8:30 p.m.