Reece Beekman delivered 21 points, six assists and four steals to spark red-hot Virginia to a 65-53 victory over Notre Dame on Wednesday in Charlottesville, Va.
Jacob Groves hit 6 of 8 attempts from 3-point range, scoring 18 points, as the Cavaliers (16-5, 7-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) never trailed on their way to winning their fifth straight and extending the nation’s longest home winning streak to 22 games.
Isaac McKneely scored 11 points, hitting 3 of 5 shots from deep, as Virginia shot better from outside the 3-point arc, draining 13 of 25 (52 percent), than it did from inside, where it made 11 of 28 attempts (39.3 percent).
Markus Burton scored 17 points and Braeden Shrewsberry contributed 16 points as Notre Dame (7-14, 2-8) lost its fifth straight and fell to 0-9 all-time in Charlottesville.
The Irish stayed in the game behind their 3-point shooting as they made 9 of 18 (50 percent) of their attempts. But their 18 turnovers were costly, leading to 20 points.
It was a reversal from the teams’ meeting on Dec. 30 at Notre Dame, where the Irish rolled to their most decisive victory this season, 76-54. That also was Virginia’s worst loss in the ACC since 2017.
On Wednesday, Notre Dame stayed close for the first 12 minutes before Virginia went on a 12-2 run, which was bookended by 3-pointers from Groves and Beekman.
Beekman also passed to Groves for a corner trey and added a steal and a breakaway slam during the run that put the Cavaliers up 30-17.
A buzzer-beating 3-pointer by McKneely closed the half, giving Virginia its biggest lead to that point, 38-23.
In the second half, Notre Dame pulled to within eight points on two occasions. A 3-pointer by Logan Imes made it 48-40 with 10 minutes left.
Virginia answered with a 9-2 run, with all the points supplied by reserves. Taine Murray made baskets on consecutive possessions and Groves followed with a 3-pointer as the Cavaliers regained control, 57-42.
–Field Level Media
