Virginia Uses Three-Point Resurgence to Escape Boston College With 72-68 Win

After starting the game 3/16 from beyond the arc, the Cavaliers made their last five threes to take down the Eagles on Wednesday night in Chestnut Hill

Of the many symptoms that characterized their recent downward spiral in which they lost three of their last four games, the Cavaliers' struggles shooting the ball from beyond the arc was perhaps the most concerning. In those four games, Virginia was 12/53 from three-point range, a lowly 22.6%. 

The first 30 minutes of UVA's road game at Boston College on Wednesday night was more of the same, with the Cavaliers making only three of their first 16 three-point attempts. After trailing for the entire game to that point, the Eagles built a three-point lead with eight minutes to go and looked to be on their way to handing the Cavaliers a third-straight defeat and a loss that would be devastating for their already-in-jeopardy NCAA Tournament chances. 

Instead, Virginia experienced a resurgence from beyond the arc, making its final five three-point attempts, with each of those threes being assisted by Reece Beekman. Those triples allowed the Cavaliers to regain the lead and hold off a late push from the Eagles as Virginia (21-8, 12-6 ACC) escaped Boston College (15-13, 6-11 ACC) with a crucial 72-68 victory on Wednesday night at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill. 

It was pretty close to an ideal start for Virginia, as Isaac McKneely and Reece Beekman scored 11 of the first 13 points of the game to give the Cavaliers an early 11-2 advantage. That run included a wide-open three-pointer for McKneely, whose opportunities for clean looks from beyond the arc have been few and far between of late. On the other end of the floor, Boston College started the game 1/11 from the field and 0/4 from beyond the arc. 

The Eagles suddenly caught fire midway through the first half, making eight of their next ten shots including three-pointers from Mason Madsen and Jaeden Zackery to pull back within a point. Virginia settled back in on the defensive end, holding Boston College scoreless for more than three minutes. Boston College ended the half making just one of its final seven shots, but Virginia missed its last four shots as well and held a marginal 27-23 lead at the half. 

Beekman led all scorers with eight points at halftime and Madsen had seven for the Eagles. Both teams were under 40% from the floor in the first half and made only two threes, but UVA had a 16-10 edge in points in the paint. 

The offenses of both teams clicked at a higher rate in the second half and it started right away with Claudell Harris knocking down a three and Jake Groves making a triple of his own on the first two possessions of the half. A 6-0 run for Virginia, capped by a rare Ryan Dunn mid-range jumper, threatened to break the game open for the Cavaliers as they built a 36-28 lead, but Zackery responded with an and-one to stem the tide. 

Boston College continued to hang around and then erupted for a lightning-fast 7-0 run that took all of 54 seconds. Quinten Post hit an open three-pointer and Devin McGlockton converted on back-to-back alley-oops to give the Eagles their first lead of the game. The lead was traded back and forth for a stretch and then Boston College scored back-to-back layups to take its largest lead at 51-48 with 8:25 remaining. 

Then came the aforementioned three-point renaissance for the Cavaliers, as Reece Beekman set up a pair of threes for Isaac McKneely and then another for Jake Groves on three-consecutive possessions, as Virginia delivered a game-changing 11-0 run to take a 59-51 lead. 

Quinten Post continued to be a problem for UVA, though, consistently drawing fouls and making the Cavaliers pay at the free throw line. Post led all scorers with 24 points, 20 of which came in the second half and 11 of those came at the charity stripe, where he was a perfect 11/11 for the game. 

A pair of free throws for Post made it a four-point game with less than three minutes to play and then Donald Hand made a pull-up three to make it 66-63 with two minutes left. Beekman drew a foul and made both free throws and then assisted on a short floater by Blake Buchanan to push the UVA lead back to seven points. 

Post scored in the paint and then Beekman committed a turnover and the Eagles cashed in, as Mason Madsen scored off the glass plus a foul on Buchanan, who fouled out of the game. That made it a 70-68 game with just 29 seconds remaining. 

Isaac McKneely was fouled and made both free throws to increase the lead to four and then Andrew Rohde made a pair of clutch defensive plays to secure the win for the Cavaliers, holding his ground on Madsen in the paint to kill some time off the clock before forcing a jump ball and then contesting Madsen's three-pointer to force an air-ball that officially clinched the victory for Virginia. 

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

After UVA held him to just four points in the first half, Quinten Post finished with a 24-point, 10-rebound double-double, but Virginia finally got enough from its offense down the stretch to come away with the win. Reece Beekman led the way with 18 points, eight assists, and five rebounds and was 8/10 from the free throw line. Isaac McKneely hit three threes and had 14 points and Jake Groves also had three threes and 13 points. Ryan Dunn had a career-high 13 rebounds to go along with his eight points, displaying an aggressiveness that UVA sorely needed. 

Virginia made eight threes on 38.1% shooting, while holding Boston College to five threes on 22.7% and that was the difference in the game. UVA also won the rebounding battle 30-24. 

Up next, Virginia faces its toughest road test of the season at No. 10 Duke on Saturday at 6pm. 

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