Virginia tops Louisville, wins ACC regular-season title
Virginia’s clutch baskets alone were cause enough for players to leap off the bench in celebration.
The Cavaliers’ whooping was even louder because of the reward those big shots earned.
Sam Hauser scored a season-high 24 points, Trey Murphy III added 17 and No. 21 Virginia beat Louisville 68-58 on Saturday to win the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championship.
Assured of least a No. 2 seed entering the regularseason finale, the Cavaliers (17-6, 13-4) received a huge opportunity for even more when first-place and No. 11 Florida State lost earlier in the day at Notre Dame. Virginia then methodically took care of the Cardinals (13-6, 8-5) to leapfrog the Seminoles by percentage points (.765 to .733) despite a blowout loss at FSU in the season’s lone meeting on Feb. 15.
Then again, the Cavs have come a long way since that first of three consecutive losses. They earned their fifth ACC regular season title under coach Tony Bennett and sixth No. 1 conference tournament seed.
“To get it how we did it,
I’m so grateful,” Bennett said, sitting in the locker room the team used when it beat Purdue two years ago to advance to the Final Four.
“We talked about what a title fight meant and being able to live with the results, win or lose, but lay it on the line and don’t yield.”
Indeed, Virginia gave Louisville little to nothing on his home floor.
Despite making just 3 of 15 from long range, the Cavaliers shot consistently well (52%) inside elsewhere to lead throughout. Louisville got to 41-38 with 13:47 remaining with a 6-0 run, but Hauser answered with five consecutive points and Virginia later added another 5-0 run on the way to a 13-point advantage the Cardinals couldn’t dent.
Credit Hauser for coolly knocking down shots from all over.
The Marquette transfer finished 9 of 14 from the field, making his first four in the second half, and grabbed eight rebounds.
• No. 4 Illinois 73, No. 7 Ohio St. 68: Ayo Dosunmu returned after missing three games with a concussion and facial injuries to score 19 points, and the Illini (20-6, 16-4 Big Ten) rallied to beat the host Buckeyes (18-8, 12-8).
• No. 17 Oklahoma St. 85, No. 6 West Virginia 80: Sophomore Avery Anderson III scored a career-high 31 points to lead the Cowboys (18-7, 11-7 Big 12) over the host Mountaineers (18-8, 11-6 Big 12) in their Big 12 regular-season finale.
• No. 8 Alabama 89, Georgia 79: Herbert Jones had two baskets in a 9-0 run to open the second half that gave the Crimson Tide (21-6, 16-2) the lead, and the SEC champions beat the host Bulldog (14-11, 7-11).
• Providence 54, No. 10 Villanova 52: David Duke and Nate Watson scored 20 points apiece, and
Duke outjumped his taller teammate and four Wildcats to tip in the gamewinner with 2.8 seconds left as the Friars (13-12, 9-10 Big East) held on after blowing a 20-point lead to beat the Big East champions.
• Notre Dame 83, No. 11 Florida St. 73: Prentiss Hubb scored 22 points, Dane Goodwin had 15 and the host Fighting Irish (1014, 7-11 ACC) beat the Seminoles(15-5, 11-4). Scottie Barnes led Florida State with 17 points. RaiQuan Gray added 15 points and 10 rebounds. M.J. Walker had 12 points on 4-for-16 shooting.
• No. 12 Arkansas 87, Texas A&M 80: Moses Moody scored 28 points, Jalen Tate added 22 and the host Razorbacks (21-5, 13-4) beat the Aggies (8-9, 2-8) to match the program’s longest Southeastern Conference winning streak at 11 games.
The Razorbacks also won 11 straight SEC games in 1993-94 en route to a national championship.
• No. 22 Loyola Chicago 65, Indiana State 49: Cameron Krutwig had 18 points and 11 rebounds, and the Ramblers (23-4) beat the Sycamores (15-10) to advance to the Missouri Valley Conference tournament final at St. Louis.
• No. 23 Purdue 67, Indiana 58: Zach Edey scored 20 points and Jaden Ivey added 17 as the host Boilermakers (18-8, 13-6 Big Ten) beat the Hoosiers (12-14, 7-12) for their ninth straight win in the in-state rivalry, the Boilermakers’ best run in the series since John Wooden played for them.
STATE SCHOOLS
• Wichita State 80, South Florida 63: Tyson Etienne had 21 points as the host Shockers (15-4, 11-2 American Athletic Conference) extended their winning streak to seven games, topping the Bulls (8-12, 4-10).