BALTIMORE — Isaac McKneely drilled all six of his 3-point attempts and finished with 23 points on Friday to lead Virginia past Villanova 70-60 at the Hall of Fame Series.
McKneely shot 8-of-9 from the field, while Andrew Rohde added 13 points and three 3-pointers for the Cavaliers (3-0) after missing one game with a back injury.
Virginia made more 3-pointers (14) than 2-pointers (11) and shot 56 percent from distance. Jacob Cofie (12 points) had two treys.
Eric Dixon paired 20 points with eight rebounds and Jordan Longino finished with 10 points and three steals for the Wildcats (2-3), who shot just 9-of-32 (28.1 percent) from 3-point range and were outshot 51 percent to 35.2 percent overall.
Virginia led by five points at halftime and took control after Dixon’s layup pulled Villanova within 39-33 with 17:15 left. McKneely and Cofie each drilled a 3-pointer to power an 11-0 run that stretched the lead to 50-33 with 12:13 to play.
The Wildcats’ next field goal didn’t come until Tyler Perkins’ triple made it 52-38 at the 10:42 mark.
Villanova soon whittled the deficit to 55-45, but McKneely got a shooter’s roll on his fifth 3-pointer to make it a 13-point game. McKneely later iced the game on his four-point play, which extended the Cavaliers’ advantage to 64-48 with 2:10 left.
Eight of Virginia’s 11 buckets in the first half came from distance, including seven straight during a 9 1/2-minute stretch after Villanova had jumped ahead 9-2.
Rohde’s second trey pulled the Cavaliers even at 11 and ignited a 12-0 run that Cofie capped with his lone long ball of the half. Rohde later punctuated Virginia’s string of seven straight triples to make it 23-14 at the 6:38 mark.
The Cavaliers’ final 3-pointer of the period came at the 3:58 mark from McKneely, growing the lead to 28-16. The Wildcats clawed back in the final minute, getting a 3-pointer from Perkins and a four-point play from Dixon to close within five.
–Tanner Malinowski, Field Level Media
