Virginia vs. Bethune-Cookman Live Updates | NCAA Men's Basketball

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Virginia (6-4) defeated Bethune-Cookman (2-7) on Thursday night, 59-41 at John Paul Jones Arena. Elijah Saunders (15 PTS, 6-11 FG) and Ishan Sharma (12 PTS, 4-7 3PT) lead the way in the victory, and Virginia is back in the win column in their return to JPJ after back-to-back losses against SMU and Florida on the road. See below for score updates, play-by-play, and live analysis from throughout the development of tonight's victory for the Cavaliers.

Bethune-Cookman 41, Virginia 59 | FINAL

Virginia clears the bench in the final 30 seconds. BCU turns the ball over in the final seconds and UVA defeats the Wildcats by 18 points, despite a slow start in the first half.

Bethune-Cookman 41, Virginia 59 | 0:30 Second Half
McKeenly goes 2-2 from the line, before Saunders pump-fakes and finds yet another basket in the paint - he has been excellent tonight, and particularly in the second half for Virginia. On the next Cavalier possession, Cofie works his way into the paint and finds his fourth FG of the night on a nice turnaround floater. After a Freeman miss, Virginia dribbles out much of the shot clock before Cofie tees up and knocks down a three - it's a 13-0 run for Virginia, and with 30 seconds remaining BCU takes a timeout.

Bethune-Cookman 41, Virginia 50 | 3:08 Second Half
Freeman drives and floats in a tough right-handed layup. He is fouled by Rohde on the play but misses the free-throw - both teams have been mediocre from the line tonight. Freeman makes up for the missed FT with another slick layup - he now has a game-high 14 PTS. Saunders muscles in another bucket in the paint, and is now 5-10 from the field. McKneely misses a long two, but Cofie finds the put-back for another UVA bucket. McKneely has an excellent defensive possession, clamping up Freeman for the last ten seconds of the BCU shot clock before Sanchez opts for a UVA timeout.

Bethune-Cookman 37, Virginia 45 | 7:24 Second Half
Rohde takes it into the paint and draws the foul - he's been aggressive taking it into the paint and down the baseline tonight. Rohde connects on just one from the line. Willoughby connects on a deep three as the BCU shot clock nearly expires, before Saunders gets to the free throw line after battling down low and goes 1-2. Virginia is now 3-6 from the line on the night. Trent Thomas swishes home his first three-pointer to grab the lead back for the Wildcats, and now has five second-half points.

A sweet inbound design leads to a Saunders jam off a clean, alley-oop pass from Rohde - the highlight play of the game thus far for Virginia. Virginia secures a turnover on the defensive end, before Saunders is fouled attempting a transition layup - Elijah goes 1-2 from the line and the Hoos secure the OREB leading to Sharma drilling his fourth three of the game. After a quick stop on the defensive end, a transition layup from Rohde is good, plus the foul, and JPJ is the loudest it's been all night. Rohde is good from the line to complete the three-point play, and it's a six-point Virginia lead as a product of an energized 9-0 run.

Both teams exchange 3 PT FG misses before Cofie converts an AND-1, perhaps accidentally as the he appeared to be looking to pass the ball. Virginia will take it, and it's an eight point lead and a BCU timeout.


Bethune-Cookman 31, Virginia 32 | 11:49 Second Half
Isaac McKneely drills a corner three off some quality ball movement from the Virginia offense. Reggie Moore Jr answers with an easy basket for the Wildcats, before Saunders responds with his first 3 PT FG of the night. Both teams trade turnovers in the ensuing two possessions before Sharma finds Cofie for two off a smooth pick-and-roll. Virginia has their first lead of the night, up 32-29 seven minutes into the half.

Trent Thomas of BCU scores on a tough basket in the lane, his first points on the night despite being a top-two scorer for the Wildcats, before a foul from BCU takes us to another Media Timeout.

Bethune-Cookman 27, Virginia 24 | 15:57 Second Half
Freeman opens the second-half scoring with a nice floater for the Wildcats. After a Saunders miss, BCU gets to the free-throw line off a strong baseline drive from Carralero Martin - he connects on both from the stripe. A quick four points for BCU to start second-half action.

Saunders dunks one for his second FG of the game and the first points out of the break for Virginia. McKneely, the Cavaliers leading scorer (13 PPG), gets his first bucket of the game on the very next UVA possession with a clean layup off an assist from Buchanan. Buchanan continues a nice second-half start with a put-back layup off a Rohde missed floater. After a missed three from BCU, Buchanan is fouled on the floor. Sharma and Cofie both check-in off the bench.

BCU's Willoughby gets a steal and converts a layup plus the foul on the other end, ending a short 6-0 run from UVA.

Bethune-Cookman 21, Virginia 18 | 20:00 Second Half

Virginia is undefeated all time (5-0) against Southwestern Athletic Conference opponents, but find themselves trailing at the half against BCU after an unacceptable first 20 minutes of basketball at JPJ. Every statistical category tells the story of the Cavaliers embarrassingly slow start, but here are a few to put it into perspective; In addition to 8 first-half turnovers, Virginia is 3-15 from behind the arc and a cool 7-25 from the field. Freshman G Ishan Sharma's hot half from behind the arc (3-3 3PT FG) is the only reason Virginia isn't down by 10+ points at the break. Look for him to receive extended minutes in the second-half.

Bethune-Cookman 21, Virginia 18 | HALFTIME
Both teams exchange missed FG before Rohde makes a nice jump through the lane to find a layup and his first basket of the game. On the next Cavalier possession, Rohde falls down by the baseline before battling his way to his feet and muscling into the paint for another layup and back-to-back baskets for the guard.

Freeman gets an easy two off a Virginia turnover to take us to the half with Virginia trailing by three.

Bethune-Cookman 19, Virginia 14 | 2:32 First Half
TJ Power fights for an offensive rebound off of a missed Saunders 3PT, earning the Hoos another possession. Virginia swings the ball around and Sharma drills yet another three. He has 9 PTS and is 3-3 from deep.

The Wildcats answer with a three of their own, this one from Freeman for his second of the game. On the next BCU possession, Rouzan battles down low for another gritty FG in the paint - he has 4 PTS on the night.

Bethune-Cookman 14, Virginia 11 | 5:11 First Half
Another turnover, this time from Rohde right out of the timeout, is the sixth of the game for Virginia. Carralero-Martin connects on the third three of the game for the Wildcats, his first shot attempt thus far.

Sharma and Power have checked in for Virginia, who seek desperately for an offensive spark. Buchanan grabs an offensive rebound, the first of the game for UVA, and gets fouled at the rim. Buchanan goes 1-2 from the line - he has all of the three Cavalier points halfway through the first half.

Another bad turnover on an entry pass gives the ball right back to BCU, who capitalize with a nice layup underneath from Camara.

Ishan Sharma connects on a corner three off a nice pass from McKneely - the first Virginia three of the game, and basket in over ten minutes of play. BCU quickly responds with a strong layup in the lane from Reggie Moore Jr. After a strong defensive possession, Saunders drives to his right-hand and finishes in the paint for his first field goal of the game. After a Buchanan offensive rebound, Sharma drills his second three-pointer of the half from the top of the key - the freshman guard has come off the bench and provided the first spark to the Virginia offense, though they still trail here early.

Bethune-Cookman 8, Virginia 2 | 11:45 First Half
Rouzan misses both his FT attempts. BCU and Virginia trade missed FG before BCU's Ward Jr knocks down the first 3PT FG of the game. After another McKneely missed three, Virginia is 0-6 from three to start the contest. BCU is just 2-11 from the field to start themselves, marking an incredibly slow start from both teams eight minutes in.

BCU's Freeman knocks down his first three of the night to extend the early Wildcat lead to six points. TO Virginia.


Bethune-Cookman 2, Virginia 2 | 15:54 First Half
The Hoos turn the ball over on their first possession of the game. Daniel Rouzan opens the scoring on a nice move underneath against Buchanan. Buchanan responds with a nice pump fake and dunk to get Virginia on the board. It's a sloppy start for the UVA offense - 3 turnovers in the first three minutes of action.

Rouzan and Buchanan battle underneath, and Buchanan fouls Rouzan sending him to the line bringing us to our first media timeout of the game.

Bethune-Cookman 0, Virginia 0 | 20:00 First Half

Starting five for UVA tonight - Taine Murray, Andrew Rohde, Isaac McKneely, Elijah Saunders, and Blake Buchanan. Murray replaces Dai Dai Ames in the starting five after he suffered an ankle injury against SMU. Rohde will likely serve as the primary point guard.

Starting five for BCU - Trey Thomas, Brayon Freeman, Jesus Carralero Martin, Reggie Ward Jr, Daniel Rouzan.

As we await out 7pm ET tipoff for Virginia vs. Bethune-Cookman on the ACC Network, read a full preview of the game here: Virginia Basketball vs. Bethune-Cookman Game Preview, Score Prediction

Virginia vs. Bethune-Cookman Pregame Notes

  • Virginia and Bethune-Cookman have met just once before, a 109-49 victory for the Cavaliers on December 8th, 1994 at University Hall.
  • In that game, Cory Alexander led all scorers with 28 points, while Junior Burrough, Curtis Staples, Harold Deane, and Yuri Barnes all joined Alexander in double figures for UVA.
  • Bethune-Cookman is the only team from the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) to appear on Virginia's schedule in the 2024-2025 basketball season.
  • UVA is 5-0 all-time against current members of the SWAC, including an 80-50 victory over Texas Southern in the 2023-2024 season opener.
  • Virginia is 1-4 away from Charlottesville this season, but 4-0 in games played at John Paul Jones Arena.

More Virginia Men's Basketball News

ACC Weekly Roundup: Power Rankings and the Good, Bad, and Ugly

UVA Basketball: Dai Dai Ames Injury Exacerbates Point Guard Situation

VIDEO/Transcript: Ron Sanchez Talks Virginia Basketball's Loss at SMU

The Plus/Minus: Virginia Basketball Falls to SMU in ACC Opener

Key Takeaways from UVA Basketball's 63-51 Loss at SMU


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Henry Pallatroni
HENRY PALLATRONI

Henry has been writing for Virginia Cavaliers On SI since August of 2024 and covers football and men's basketball. He is a fourth-year Economic and Media Studies major at the University of Virginia and is originally from New Hampshire.