UVA Rides Hot Three Point Shooting To Down Boston College 78-65

Eagles fell behind early and couldn't rally as they lose to Cavaliers in Charlottesville

Boston College couldn't find their magic again, as they fell to Virginia 78-65 in their rematch tonight in Charlottesville. Virginia's offense played incredibly, shooting 57.8% and 58.8% from beyond the arc. BC playing without Derryck Thornton, got out played on both ends and was held to just 23 points in the first half. With the win BC falls to 13-14 (7-9 ACC), while UVA continues to build a solid NCAA resume at 17-8 (10-5 ACC).

The Cavaliers looked like a championship caliber team right out of the gate as they stormed out to an early 13-6 lead on eight points from Jay Huff. Boston College however fought back, and brought the game to one on a jumper from Kamari Williams. Nik Popovic and Jay Heath both hit three pointers to keep it close, but in the final eight minutes Boston College was held to just four points. In that time UVA broke the game open, heading into halftime up 35-23. 

BC came out strong in the second half, and brought the deficit down to seven on a three pointer by Steffon Mitchell. But the Eagles got into foul trouble early, and UVA was shooting free throws early. On top of that UVA continued to shoot extremely well both down in the paint and from three point range.  The Eagles continued to battle, but for every big shot they hit, UVA had an answer. The cherry on the sundae came when Kihei Clark deked BC's defense for an incredible layup sealing the game for the Cavaliers.

In the end UVA was just too strong on both ends for the Eagles. The Cavaliers went on runs, and while BC never folded, they could never close the gap   Boston College was led by Nik Popovic who had 20 points, and Jay Heath with 18. UVA's high scorers were Clark and Braxton Key, both of whom had 17 points.  

Boston College will face off with Clemson on Saturday at noon in Chestnut Hill. 

Notes

* There was a huge disparity in free throw attempts. The Eagles only had two free throw attempts the entire night, while UVA had twenty two.

* Derryck Thornton missed the game with back spasms

* Steffon Mitchell went down with an arm injury, but returned

* Jared Hamilton missed the second half with an undisclosed injury.