Virginia Defeats NC Central 73-61 in Season Opener | Live Updates

Score updates and live analysis for the Virginia Cavaliers vs. NC Central Eagles men's basketball game

The Virginia Cavaliers (1-0) defeated the NC Central Eagles (0-1) 73-61 in the season-opener on Monday night at John Paul Jones Arena.

See below for full play-by-play and live analysis from the game. Most recent updates are at the top.

Read a full recap of the game here: Franklin Sparks Virginia Offense in 73-61 Win Over NC Central

Final Score: NC Central 61, Virginia 73

Eric Boone drives on Beekman and tries to get a floater up but Shedrick rotates over and spikes the shot into the floor. Shedrick then gets a taste of his own medicine on the next play as Medley-Bacon blocks his shot at the rim. Devin Gordon drives inside and gets a floater to fall to cut the deficit back to 10. Gordon tries a long three and misses badly and Beekman collects the rebound to just about salt the game away. Beekman puts the finishing touches on the win, driving inside and feeding a sweet pass to Shedrick for a two-hand jam. Virginia makes one final stop to seal the 73-61 victory in the season-opener. 

Final. NC Central 61, Virginia 73

Franklin wins the race to a long rebound and gets tackled by Butts, drawing a foul. Franklin goes 1/2 at the line. Oladapo skies for a layup attempt but Shedrick meets him at the apex, pinning his shot against the backboard. Vander Plas is fouled and goes 1/2 at the line. After going 14/16 from the free throw line in the first half, UVA has now missed six free throws in the second half alone. This game would likely be out of reach at this point if UVA was more consistent at the charity stripe. Vander Plas makes up for it by blocking a shot and then Kihei Clark knocks down an open three on the other end to push the lead back up to 15 points. Devin Gordon hits a corner three to stem the tide for NC Central. The Eagles won't go away, but time is running out.

NC Central 59, Virginia 71 | 2:43 2H

Shedrick gets the ball on the baseline and drives to the basket, drawing a foul on Medley-Bacon, his third. Shedrick makes both free throws to push the lead to 12 points. Medley-Bacon gets good positioning down low and maneuvers his way inside for a hook shot over Shedrick. Gardner draws a foul, but he misses the front end of the one-and-one. Franklin draws a foul, putting Virginia in the double bonus, and makes both free throws. That's 20 points now for Franklin, who has been an impressive all night long. Wright gets Gardner to bite on a pump-fake and knocks down the mid-range jumper. Wright matches Franklin with 20 points. NC Central calls a timeout, trailing by 10 with five and a half minutes to go.

NC Central 56, Virginia 66 | 5:34 2H

NC Central drops into a zone defense and UVA isn't able to generate a good look at first, but Beekman whips a cross-court pass to Vander Plas, who hits the deep three at the end of the shot clock. Clark forces a miss on a jumper from Wright and then makes a play on the other end, driving and passing inside to Shedrick for a layup. NC Central ends an 8-0 UVA run as Butts knocks down a three. Beekman then turns the ball over and Boone takes it the other way, finishing in transition plus a foul on Beekman. That's Beekman's third foul and he exits the game. Boone completes the three-point play at the line. McKneely misses a three but Shedrick grabs the offensive board and lays it in. Shedrick fights hard for another offensive rebound, leading to a second-chance bucket for UVA as Armaan Franklin knocks down a mid-range jumper. The lead is back up to 10 and Virginia seems to have settled down for the moment. 

NC Central 52, Virginia 62 | 7:56 2H

Marque Maultsby picks up his fourth foul, sending Kihei Clark to the free throw line. Clark misses both free throws and the lead remains at 3. Medley-Bacon gets the ball on a pick-and-roll and Caffaro is whistled for a late foul after Medley-Bacon missed the layup. Medley-Bacon makes both free throws and it's a one-point game. Ben Vander Plas gets a good look from three but misses it and UVA has another 3+ minute scoring drought. Eric Boone gets inside for a layup and NC Central is on a 12-0 run to take the lead. Kihei Clark knocks down a three-pointer from the top of the key, a shot Virginia desperately needed. Beekman follows that up by stealing the ball and taking it the other way for an easy dunk. Justin Wright silences the crowd with a step-back jumper, but Beekman gets the fans out of their seats again with a three-pointer of his own. Virginia gets a stop and then Clark dumps a pass down low for Caffaro, who is fouled on the way up and throws down a one-handed dunk. Nice response from Virginia after NC Central briefly took the lead.

NC Central 46, Virginia 53 | 12:21 2H

Normal starting five is back on the court for the Cavaliers to start the second half. Jayden Gardner grabs a defensive rebound and outlets to Beekman, who streaks down the court and draws a foul on Boone. Beekman knocks down both free throws. Brendan Medley-Bacon scores the layup plus a foul on Shedrick, but cannot complete the three-point play at the line. With just 4 seconds left on the shot clock, Franklin gets the handoff from Shedrick and hits a deep fadeaway three with two defenders on him. NC Central responds right away as Maultsby knocks down a three on the other end. Shedrick is whistled for his 3rd foul and checks out of the game. Eric Boone is left wide open and he drains the three to cut the deficit to just five points. UVA turns it over and Boone takes it the other way for a transition layup. Tony Bennett calls timeout as Virginia's lead has dwindled to just three points at 43-40.

NC Central 40, Virginia 43 | 16:23 2H

Clark's layup goes off the rim but Caffaro grabs the offensive board and gets fouled. Caffaro knocks down both free throws and Caffaro is now 4/4 from the line. Gardner has the ball stripped on a drive but he fights to get it back before getting fouled, making 1/2 to stretch the UVA lead back to 11. Justin Wright steps back and hits a mid-range jumper over Vander Plas. Clark fakes a pass outside and then feeds Gardner underneath, who is fouled again. This time, Gardner makes both free throws. Justin Wright hits another tough step-back three over Gardner with just a few seconds left to get the Eagles to 30 right before halftime. He has 16 points to lead all scorers. UVA takes a 38-30 lead into the intermission. 

NC Central 30, Virginia 38 | Halftime

UVA goes small with a lineup of Clark-McKneely-Franklin-Gardner-Vander Plas, with Vander Plas playing the five. Pitt transfer Dan Oladapo is fouled by Franklin and makes one of two free throws. The UVA scoring drought is now nearing five minutes. It's worth mentioning that this drought has largely coincided with Reece Beekman having to exit the game with his second foul. Vander Plas fouls Boone, who makes one of two and the lead is down to eight. Some nice ball movement for UVA leads to an open drive for Clark, who elevates for a mid-range jumper, finally bringing the scoring drought to an end. Boone has the answer for NC Central, driving on Franklin and getting a shot to fall off the glass. 

NC Central 25, Virginia 33 | 1:46 1H

Franklin swishes both free throws. So far, UVA is 9/10 from the free throw line and 5/7 from three - that's a good recipe for success. Beekman throws a long pass to a rim-running Kadin Shedrick and Shedrick sends the ball right to the corner to Franklin, who drains his third three of the game. He leads all scorers with 13 points. Shedrick fouls Eric Boone, who goes 1/2 from the line. Beekman is called for a foul as he slapped the ball away from Wright, who makes both free throws. Justin Wright crosses over and hits a very tough step-back three with McKneely's hand in his face as the shot clock expired. That cuts the UVA lead down to 10 as the Cavaliers have gone more than three minutes without scoring. 

NC Central 21, Virginia 31 | 3:53 1H

For those wondering how the Cavaliers might utilize their extra depth this season, it took less than 10 minutes for Tony Bennett to use nine different players in the season-opener. Caffaro is fouled and he makes both ends of the one-and-one. Fred Cleveland Jr. misses a three, but Cameron Butler is there for the putback. Clark drives and kicks to Isaac McKneely, who splashes the triple for his career points - the first three of many for sure. Kihei Clark draws an offensive foul on Justin Wright. Franklin is fouled and he makes both free throws to give UVA a 26-12 lead. Clark goes under a screen and Justin Wright knocks down the open three as a result. Franklin is fouled again on the next possession and will shoot free throws on the other end of the timeout.

NC Central 15, Virginia 26 | 7:21 1H

Isaac McKneely checks in for the first time in his career, replacing Kihei Clark - McKneely getting some early run with the rest of UVA's normal starting five. McKneely gets a great look from three but misses it. UVA gets the offensive board and Beekman drives the lane before dumping a pass to Kadin Shedrick, who is fouled. Shedrick makes both free throws. Kris Monroe gets a good layup attempt off an in-bounds play, but McKneely comes up with an impressive block. Virginia turns it over and Eric Boone takes it the other way for a breakaway layup. Francisco Caffaro checks into the game and immediately makes an impact, getting a hook shot to rattle around and drop into the basket. Caffaro fouls Justin Wright, who goes one of two from the line. Taine Murray and Ben Vander Plas are in the game now as UVA goes with a lineup of Clark-McKneely-Murray-Vander Plas-Caffaro. Clark drives to the basket and draws a foul, going 1/2 from the line. NC Central saves a ball from going out of bounds but it comes right to Caffaro, who passes quickly to Vander Plas for an open three which he drains. NC Central answers with a corner three from Devin Butts on the other end. Caffaro gets another hook shot to fall to give Virginia a 19-10 lead. UVA is currently shooting 4/6 from three. 

NC Central 10, Virginia 19 | 10:25 1H

Kadin Shedrick wins the tip-off and we are underway here at John Paul Jones Arena for the opener of the 2022-2023 Virginia basketball season. NC Central is whistled for three fouls on UVA's trip, but Virginia ends up turning it over. Brendan Medley-Bacon misses a dunk on NC Central's first trip, but Eric Boone is there for the putback and the Eagles strike first. Armaan Franklin feeds Reece Beekman, who knocks down the catch-and-shoot three from the right wing for UVA's first points of the season. Beekman pays Franklin right back on the next possession, passing to Franklin for an open corner three. Justin Wright gets Kihei Clark to bite on a pump fake and elevates for a mid-range jumper to stop the 6-0 UVA run. Franklin hits his second three in a row, this time with a hand in his face and UVA leads 9-4. 

NC Central 4, Virginia 9 | 15:45 1H

NC Central Starters: Justin Wright, Marque Maultsby, Eric Boone, Kris Monroe, Brendan Medley-Bacon

Virginia Starters: Kihei Clark, Reece Beekman, Armaan Franklin, Jayden Gardner, Kadin Shedrick