No. 3 Cavaliers overcome sloppy start against rival

Kyle Guy scored 23 points and it was his big first half that gave No. 3 Virginia a chance to get things right in the second half.

Thanks to Guy’s 17 firsthalf points and some poor shooting by No. 20 Virginia Tech, the visiting Cavaliers overcame a sloppy start and outlasted the Hokies 64-58 on Monday night, sweeping the season series from their intrastate rivals.

“They’re a great shooting team so we got a little lucky in the first half, and then in the second half I think we did a better job of dialing in, beating handoffs better and we made some adjustments,” said Ty Jerome, who scored 16 points for the Cavaliers (23-2, 11-2 Atlantic Coast Conference).

Kerry Blackshear Jr. had 23 points and 13 rebounds for the Hokies (20-6, 9-5).

at No. 22 Wisconsin 64, Illinois 58: With leading scorer Ethan Happ struggling, Badgers coach Greg Gard benched his star down the stretch and looked for someone else to take charge. Brad Davison and Khalil Iverson answered the call.

Davison scored 18 points, Iverson added 16 and the Badgers (18-8, 10-5 Big Ten) held on for the win.

Illinois coach Brad Underwood credited his team’s defensive style for keeping Happ in check.

“They’re a lot more than Ethan Happ, and I think we’re the one team that’s a little bit different in Big Ten play,” he said. “We’re going to pick you up and get after you earlier and maybe Ethan doesn’t get those spots.”

Aaron Jordan finished with 12 points for the Fighting Illini (10-16, 6-9) while Ayo Dosunmu added 11.

No. 23 Kansas State 65, at West Virginia 51: A 14-0 run midway through the second half, led by a couple of three-pointers by Xavier Sneed, helped the Wildcats pull away for their fifth straight Big 12 road win.

After shooting poorly in the first half, Kansas State (20-6, 10-3) kept the Mountaineers (10-16, 2-10) at bay with 50% shooting in the final 20 minutes.

Barry Brown led the Wildcats with 21 points.