John Carter Jr. scored 19 points, including a clinching 3-pointer from the left wing with 24 seconds left, as Navy stunned No. 25 Virginia, 66-58 in Charlottesville, Va., on Tuesday night.
It marked Navy’s first win over a ranked team since it beat Syracuse in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on March 16, 1986. Future NBA superstar David Robinson was the standout of that Navy team.
Carter’s 3-pointer gave Navy a 64-55 lead.
The Cavaliers began the 2021-22 season the same way they ended the previous one, with a shocking loss, after bowing out of the NCAA Tournament with a first-round defeat against Ohio. Jayden Gardner scored 18 points for the Cavaliers and Kihei Clark added 12. Virginia had 14 turnovers.
Virginia trailed Navy by seven points at halftime and finally drew even with the Midshipmen at 53-53 on a pair of free throws by Armaan Franklin with 10:46 left. But at that point, both teams went ice-cold from the floor. After Navy regained the lead on Greg Summers’ basket with 9:55 left, making it 55-53, Virginia tied it on Kadin Shedrick’s basket with 8:45 left.
However, the Cavaliers did not score again until only 15 seconds remained when Franklin drained a 3-pointer to trim the deficit to 64-58. By then, it was too late for Virginia, which couldn’t get any closer.
Navy went ahead to stay at 57-55 on a basket by Sean Yoder with 5:20 left. Yoder, who had 15 points, scored again on a putback with 3:42 to go to make it 59-55.
The underdog Middies led for much of the first half. Navy went ahead 17-14 on a 3-pointer by Daniel Deaver with 13:07 to go before halftime. Navy’s biggest first-half lead was eight points at 37-29 on a jumper by Richard Njoku.
–Field Level Media
