Isaac McKneely scored 18 points and Virginia improved to 9-0 at home with a 77-53 victory against Louisville in Atlantic Coast Conference action on Wednesday in Charlottesville, Va.
The Cavaliers (11-3, 2-1 ACC) have prevailed in each of the past eight meetings with the Cardinals (5-8, 0-2), who have dropped 22 consecutive road games.
McKneely made four 3-pointers and Ryan Dunn posted a double-double (15 points, 10 rebounds) for Virginia. Taine Murray had 12 points off the bench and Reece Beekman added 11 points, eight assists and three steals.
The Cavaliers shot 51.7 percent from the field and 38.5 percent (10 of 26) from 3-point range and only committed three turnovers.
Curtis Williams scored 14 points and Mike James added 11 for Louisville, which held its last lead at 5-2. The Cardinals were held to 40.4 percent shooting, including 24 percent (6 of 25) from beyond the arc.
Down 15 at intermission, Louisville was never able to cut the deficit to single digits in the second half.
Consecutive 3-pointers by McKneely put Virginia in front 54-35 with just over nine minutes remaining.
The Cavaliers’ lead ballooned to 64-40 on another McKneely triple with 6:02 to play.
Virginia is 18-2 under coach Tony Bennett against Louisville, which hasn’t won in Charlottesville since 1990.
UVA opened up a 24-14 lead with a 10-2 run that included 3-pointers by McKneely and Andrew Rohde.
A 9-0 surge capped by Dunn’s dunk extended the advantage to 35-20 with 41 seconds left in the first half.
McKneely’s corner jumper beat the halftime buzzer and put the Cavaliers ahead 37-22 at the break.
Louisville was well-rested but short-handed. The Cardinals were coming off a 12-day break but were without No. 2 scorer Tre White (12.7 points per game) and reserves Emmanuel Okorafor and Dennis Evans because of injuries.
–Field Level Media
