No. 5 Virginia Beats Notre Dame 77-66
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Anthony Gill scored seven of his 14 first-half points during a 21-4 run and No. 5 Virginia cruised to a 77-66 win over Notre Dame on Saturday for its 11th consecutive victory.
Malcolm Brogdon led the Cavaliers (12-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) with 24 points, Gill had 21 and Mike Tobey had his second straight big game off the bench with 15 points and six rebounds.
Demetrius Jackson led the Fighting Irish (9-4, 0-1) with 18 points. Steve Vasturia and Bonzie Colson each added 14.
The Cavaliers' 12th straight victory at home came as Virginia launched its bid to become the first team since Duke from 1997-2000 to win three consecutive outright ACC championships.
Virginia made it look easy once the Irish stopped making contested shots.
The Irish made their first four shots, all by different players, and then missed 10 of their next 12 as Virginia put together the first-half run to turn an 8-4 deficit into a 25-12 lead. The Cavaliers built their lead as high as 13 points three times in the first half.
It was 36-24 at halftime, and the closest the Irish came was 36-26 on Colson's basket to open the second half. Brogdon scored Virginia's first eight points, including two 3-pointers, then fed London Perrantes for another 3 in the right corner for a 47-30 lead, the Cavaliers' biggest to that point.
Later, two free throws and a three-point play by Tobey, who was coming off a career-best 16 points against Oakland, and a free throw by Gill capped 10-2 burst that pushed the margin to a game-high 59-40.
TIP-INS:
Notre Dame: Coach Mike Brey fell to 0-7 in his career against Virginia. ... The Cavaliers were the first ranked opponent the Irish have played this season.
Virginia: Coach Tony Bennett improved to 5-0 against Notre Dame is his career, including an NCAA tournament victory in 2008 while at Washington State. ... Brogdon (16.2 ppg) started the day having missed all 13 of his 2-point shots in his last two games, and 17 of 18 in his last three. He ended the drought with a driving left-handed layup at the 13:22 mark of the first half.
UP NEXT:
Notre Dame: is at Boston College on Thursday night.
Virginia: is at Virginia Tech on Monday night.
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