No. 12 Miami fends off late rally from No. 3 Virginia

By foxsports
Published

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) -- Miami shook off any lingering effects from its most lopsided loss of the season.

Davon Reed scored 21 points and the 12th-ranked Hurricanes rebounded from a 25-point thrashing at North Carolina with a 64-61 victory over No. 3 Virginia on Monday night.

"Among the captains we said we can't feel sorry for ourselves," Reed said. "That game hurt but it's in the past."

Reed's two free throws with 3.9 seconds remaining increased Miami's lead to its final margin.

London Perrantes' game-tying attempt from 40 feet at the buzzer bounced off the backboard for Virginia.

"We needed to be the aggressors from start to finish tonight and we were," said Reed, who shot 6 of 8 from the field including 5 of 6 on 3-point attempts. "We knew what was at stake and we responded."

Miami (22-5, 11-4) took over sole possession of second place in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Hurricanes, Cavaliers (21-6, 11-5) and Louisville began Monday tied with identical conference records.

"We got knocked down big time on Saturday and you've got to get back up and fight to show what you're made of," Miami coach Jim Larranaga said. "I thought we did that tonight against an outstanding Virginia team."

Virginia rallied from an eight-point deficit with seven straight points behind Malcolm Brogdon's jumper and 3-pointer and Perrantes' layup with 1:22 remaining that got the Cavaliers within 60-59.

Tonye Jekiri converted one of two free throws with 36 seconds left to make it 61-59. Brogdon's 3-point attempt with 23 seconds left bounced off the rim.

"It was decent, it wasn't great," Brogdon said of his attempt. "It was a little off the dribble. I got it off but it didn't go in."

Brogdon tied a career high with 28 points and was the only double figure scorer for the Cavaliers. He shot 12 of 18 from the field and was 4 of 7 from beyond the arc.

"We fought hard in the second half, got on the offensive glass, played pretty spirited," Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. "I thought in the first half we were out on the edge with our transition defense. We were on our heels and they were really attacking."

The Cavaliers overcame a 10-point deficit early in the second half and outscored Miami 19-8 over a 7:16 stretch. Brogdon hit three jumpers during the spurt and Mike Tobey's layup with 9:36 left gave Virginia its first lead, 48-47, since 5:29 remaining in the first half.

Reed hit consecutive 3-pointers early in the second half as Miami increased a five-point halftime lead to 39-29.

Virginia's Isaiah Wilkins took a knee to the head with 4:51 remaining in the second half and stayed on the court while treated by the training staff. A dazed Wilkins eventually reached his feet and was escorted to the bench.

"He got hit, he had a headache," Bennett said. "Hopefully he'll be OK. We need his defensive prowess."

The Cavaliers missed 11 of their first 15 shots while the Hurricanes misfired on four of their first 11.

WINS OVER RANKED OPPONENTS

The Hurricanes improved to 4-2 against Top 25 teams.

BLOCK PARTY

Anthony Gill finished with a career-high four blocks for the Cavaliers.

TIP-INS

Miami: The Hurricanes snapped a three-game losing streak against the Cavaliers

Virginia: Brogdon made his first eight shots of the second half before his late miss.

UP NEXT

Miami hosts No. 11 Louisville on Saturday.

Virginia hosts No. 7 North Carolina on Saturday.