CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Jay Huff had 18 points and 12 rebounds and No. 9 Virginia took control early and beat North Carolina for the seventh consecutive time, 60-48, on Saturday night.
Sam Hauser added 17 points for Virginia (15-3, 11-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) and Trey Murphy III had 12 as the ACC-leading Cavaliers won their fourth in a row.
The Cavaliers led 21-4 midway through the first half as the Tar Heels missed 13 of their first 15 shots. North Carolina (12-7, 7-5) closed to within 27-18 by halftime, but never threatened. The Tar Heels finished just 2 for 16 from 3-point territory.
Virginia, meanwhile, was 10 for 22, with Hauser shooting 4 of 6 and Huff 3 of 5.
“Sam is always a lights-out shooter. I feel like I’ve been shooting it well recently and it’s hard to guard,” Huff said.
Walker Kessler led UNC with nine points. The last time no Tar Heel scored in double figures was March 4, 1966, a 21-20 loss to Duke in the ACC Tournament in Raleigh. John Yokley led UNC with six points in that game.
Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said he’s at a loss to determine why the Tar Heels have struggled so much against the Cavaliers.
“I can’t speak to all our teams in the past. Last year, we have a lead and they make one with eight-tenths of a second to go,” he said. “The year before, we played them in the Smith Center and they had to go to the video to decide that (Coby White’s) 3-pointer was not good and then they laid it up and had to go to another video to see if it was good for them and both calls went their way.”
Huff, who also blocked four shots, hit three of the Cavaliers’ 12 3-pointers.
“It’s hard to simulate that in practice,” Williams said. “We don’t have a four and five man on the blue team that can go out there and make all those shots like they did.”
North Carolina hosts No. 18 Virginia Tech on Tuesday night.
No. 17 Florida State 92, Wake Forest 85 (OT)
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida State had the depth and made the clutch plays yet again, pulling off an overtime win.
RaiQuan Gray had career highs in points (24) and rebounds (12) as No. 17 Florida State defeated Wake Forest 92-85 in overtime on Saturday.
The Seminoles tied it at 80 with under a second to go in regulation when Scottie Barnes drove the length of the floor and made a reverse layup. That set up Florida State in the extra period; the Seminoles have tied a national record by winning 11 straight overtime games.
Gray made all 10 of his free-throw attempts and scored the Seminoles’ first four points in overtime. The redshirt junior forward scored in double figures for the sixth straight game and had his second double-double in a month for the Seminoles (11-3, 7-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who were playing their first game in two weeks due to coronavirus issues.
Playing without starting center Balsa Koprivica, the 6-foot-8 Gray was often the Seminoles’ tallest player on the court and did a little bit of everything — even adding four assists and three steals.
“He got some tough rebounds,” coach Leonard Hamilton said. “He was our big guy. He stepped up tonight and gave us a major contribution.”
Jonah Antonio scored a career-high 23 points, drilling 7 of 8 shots from 3-point range, for Wake Forest (6-9, 3-9). Antonio had the best 3-point shooting game in Wake history with a minimum of eight attempts from long range. He was 23 of 62 (37.1 percent) from deep coming into Saturday’s game.
Ian DuBose, one of three Wake players who fouled out, added 18 points on 6 of 9 shooting. Guard Carter Whitt’s nine assists were the most by a Wake Forest freshman since Bryant Crawford dished out nine against Coastal Carolina on Dec. 18, 2015.
Wake coach Steve Forbes lamented two missed free-throw attempts by DuBose in the final 13 seconds as well as Barnes’ final play of regulation as the road upset slipped away.
“At the end of the day we got nobody to blame but ourselves for this loss,” Forbes said. “We had ourselves in position to win and we didn’t make the play or the plays that we needed to make.”
Florida State has won 23 straight home ACC games, a streak that dates to a 77-68 win over Clemson on Jan. 22, 2019.
Barnes had 11 of his 13 points for Florida State in second half or overtime. M.J. Walker scored 14 points, giving him 976 for his career.
Malik Osborne also added eight rebounds. Despite being without Koprivica, Florida State still outrebounded Wake 39-32.
Florida State has not lost a home ACC game in more than two years. The 23-game league win streak is second in ACC history, shy of Duke’s 26-game string from January 1997-February 2000.
The Seminoles also tied the national record for consecutive overtime wins, matching the totals by Louisville (1968-75), UMass (1991-96) and Virginia (1991-96).
Wake Forest hosts Duke on Wednesday.
UNC Greensboro 77, Mercer 74
MACON, Ga. — Angelo Allegri had 16 points and seven rebounds as UNC Greensboro edged past Mercer 77-74 on Saturday.
Mercer trailed by 18 with 7:29 to go and got within two twice in the last 20 seconds but couldn’t get a final 3-pointer to fall at the buzzer.
Isaiah Miller had 15 points and seven rebounds for UNC Greensboro (15-6, 10-3 Southern Conference). Kaleb Hunter added 11 points. Hayden Koval had four assists.
UNC Greensboro totaled 45 first-half points, a season high for the team.
Leon Ayers III had 17 points for the Bears (12-8, 5-7), including 3-straight 3-pointers in a 50-second span. Ross Cummings added 15 points. Jeff Gary had 14 points.
The Spartans improve to 2-0 against the Bears for the season. UNC Greensboro defeated Mercer 81-68 on Jan. 27.
College of Charleston 71, Elon 53
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Zep Jasper registered 16 points as College of Charleston beat Elon 71-53 on Saturday.
Brenden Tucker had 11 points for College of Charleston (8-8, 6-3 Colonial Athletic Association). Dontavius King added 10 points. Lorenzo Edwards had three blocks.
Payton Willis, who was second on the Cougars in scoring heading into the contest with 14 points per game, was 1 of 8 for three points.
Darius Burford and Ikenna Ndugba scored 12 points each for for the Phoenix (3-8, 0-7), who have now lost eight consecutive games.
Old Dominion 64, Charlotte 45
NORFOLK, Va. — Kalu Ezikpe had 13 points as Old Dominion beat Charlotte 64-45 on Saturday.
A.J. Oliver II added 11 points for the Monarchs (11-5, 7-3 Conference USA), who held the 49ers to 28.6 percent shooting, the lowest mark of the season for an Old Dominion opponent.
Jaylin Hunter had 11 points for Old Dominion. Xavier Green added eight rebounds.
Jhery Matos had 11 points for the 49ers (9-11, 5-7), whose losing streak stretched to four games. Jahmir Young added 10 points. Marvin Cannon had six rebounds.
The Monarchs improve to 2-0 against the 49ers this season. Old Dominion defeated Charlotte 78-76 last Wednesday.
Furman 88, Western Carolina 70
GREENVILLE, S.C. — Jalen Slawson and Noah Gurley scored 16 points apiece to lift Furman to an 88-70 win over Western Carolina on Saturday.
Clay Mounce added 14 points and Jonny Lawrence and 11 for Furman (13-7, 7-4 Southern Conference).
Mike Bothwell, who led the Paladins in scoring heading into the matchup with 16 points per game, scored just five.
Xavier Cork had 15 points and seven rebounds for the Catamounts (9-12, 2-10). Kameron Gibson added 13 points. Cory Hightower, Matt Halvorsen and Mason Faulkner scored 11 points apiece..
The Paladins improve to 2-0 against the Catamounts for the season. Furman defeated Western Carolina 75-69 on Jan. 30.
