Virginia Survives Boston College in Overtime, Advances to ACC Semifinals

The Cavaliers outlasted the Eagles in an overtime thriller on Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the 2024 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament
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Survive and Advance. No. 3 seed Virginia (23-9) is on to the ACC semifinals after surviving an overtime thriller against No. 11 seed Boston College (19-15) and coming away with a hard-fought 66-60 victory in the quarterfinals of the 2024 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament on Thursday night at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. 

Read our full game story here: All Hands on Deck for Virginia in Gritty Overtime Win Over Boston College

Boston College hit six three-pointers in the first half, including three triples from Claudell Harris Jr. in the first two and a half minutes of the game, and led by as many as 10 in the first half. Virginia clawed back into the game behind eight first-half points from Jake Groves and six each from Taine Murray and Andrew Rohde off the bench, but UVA still trailed 35-29 at halftime. 

The Cavaliers gradually worked themselves back in the game and eventually took the lead on a pair of Jake Groves free throws with 29 seconds remaining. Boston College did not call a timeout and after Jaeden Zackery grabbed the offensive rebound off of a missed three, the ball came to Mason Madsen, who hit a stepback jumper as time expired to tie the game at 57-57 and send the last quarterfinal of the day to overtime. 

Virginia bounced back in a big way in overtime, holding Boston College to just three points in the five-minute bonus period. After not making a single field goal in regulation, Isaac McKneely knocked down a huge three-pointer and then later assisted on a clutch three from Reece Beekman to give UVA a six-point lead. Claudell Harris Jr. hit another three to make it a one-possession game with 57 seconds to go, but Virginia answered as Beekman found Jordan Minor rolling to the basket for a layup. Minor then came up with a steal to seal the victory for the Cavaliers. 

Jake Groves led Virginia with a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double and Reece Beekman also tallied a double-double with 11 points, 11 assists, and seven rebounds. Taine Murray was also in double figures with 11 points on 5/6 shooting. 

Read Val's Plus/Minus breakdown of the game here.

Virginia advances to ACC Tournament semifinals and will take on No. 10 seed NC State on Friday at approximately 9:30pm with a spot in the ACC Championship Game up for grabs. 

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Matt Newton
MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.