Reece Beekman scored 16 points and helped propel the suffocating defense of Virginia in a 60-38 victory over Miami, as the Cavaliers extended their nation-high home winning streak to 23 games on Monday night in Charlottesville, Va.
Jacob Groves had 12 points off the bench and Ryan Dunn contributed eight points, eight rebounds, two blocks and two steals as Virginia (18-5, 9-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) captured its seventh straight victory. Beekman added seven assists.
Virginia’s defense, which entered Monday ranked No. 2 in Division I allowing 57.8 points per game, put a stranglehold on a potent Miami offense that came into the contest averaging 80.8 points per game.
The Hurricanes made 28.6 percent of their shots from the floor and 2 of 20 attempts from beyond the arc. Their previous low output in a game this season was 62 points.
While Miami committed 11 turnovers, Virginia had just three. The Cavaliers hit 48.1 percent of their shots, including 5 of 11 from beyond the arc.
Norchad Omier muscled inside for 11 points and 13 rebounds for slumping Miami (15-8, 6-6), which was ranked No. 8 in November but has lost six of its past 10 games.
Miami guards Matthew Cleveland, Nijel Pack and Wooga Poplar, who entered Monday each averaging at least 14 points per game, combined to score 12, making 4 of 24 shots.
Virginia got off to a slow start, hitting just one of its first nine shots to fall behind 7-2 in the first six minutes.
But then the Cavaliers flipped the script, making five of their next six attempts while the Hurricanes missed eight in a row during a 12-0 Virginia run fueled by seven points from Groves.
Triples by Isaac McKneely and Groves finished off the spree to put the Cavaliers up for good.
Later in the period, Virginia went on an 11-0 run, which was highlighted by defense, as blocked shots by Dunn and Blake Buchanan produced fastbreak baskets.
After his block, Dunn made a rim-to-rim sprint to score on a feed from Taine Murray. Moments later, Murray culminated the spree with a corner 3 that gave the Cavaliers their biggest lead of the first half at 25-11.
Poplar halted the dry spell with a 3-pointer with 2:55 left and added another to steady the Hurricanes, who trailed 29-17 at the break.
In the second half, Miami never made a run. A jumper by Groves gave Virginia a 49-23 lead with 10:42 left, matching its largest advantage of the night.
McKneely finished with nine points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals for Virginia.
–Field Level Media
