CHARLOTTESVILLE -- It was rarely all that pretty but for the second time this week No. 3 UVa found a way to win. This time, though, it came much more comfortably.
In a 56-46 victory over Miami on Saturday afternoon as the Hoos went without their starting point guard for the first time in three years.
The Cavaliers (20-1, 8-1 ACC) played without Ty Jerome due to a sore back—his first DNP in 88 games—and it showed. Freshman Kihei Clark got the start and finished with a decent stat line—nine points on 3-for-5 shooting to go with six assists and five rebounds—but he also turned it over six times.
After committing 16 turnovers at No. 23 NC State on Tuesday night, Virginia finished with 14 on Saturday afternoon but only allowed the Canes (9-12, 1-8) to score four points off of them.
Since they didn't give up much off of their miscues, the Cavaliers just looked out of sorts offensively. They shot 42.3 percent from the field (35.3 from deep) aided in large part by their 14 second-chance points off of 12 offensive rebounds. In all, they beat Miami 42-24 on the glass and only allowed the Canes to grab just five offensive boards.
Outside of the turnover issues, UVa finished with 16 assists on 24 baskets. The Hoos were led by De'Andre Hunter, who had a team-high 14 points and to go with six rebounds. Mamadi Diakite finished with 11 points, six rebounds, and three blocks while Kyle Guy added 10 points, four rebounds, and three assists.
Diakite had the game's first bucket and Hunter scored his team's next seven points as the Cavaliers built an early lead. But a 7-0 Miami run tied it up before Clark scored on a drive and Guy hit a 3-pointer heading into the under-8.
Those five points were part of a key 11-2 run that allowed Virginia to take a 20-12 lead with five minutes left in the first half. Chris Lykes, who had a game-high 16 points in the losing effort, scored on a drive and then hit a pair of free throws coming out of the under-4 before hitting a 3-pointer with 3.5 seconds left to make it 28-21 at the break. He also hit another 3-pointer to start the second half, too.
Clark responded with a 3-pointer of his own immediately thereafter, Jack Salt completed an and-1 inside, and then stat sheet stuffer Braxton Key—who finished with five points, eight rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and two steals—hit a 3-pointer as well.
The teams traded four-point "runs" before Miami rattled off five in a row going into the under-8 and that's when the Wahoos basically put this out of reach: An 8-1 run fueled by a Guy 3-pointer, a pair of Diakite blocks, a Diakite dunk, and a near and-1 by Diakite off a dunk as well as a shot by the junior forward in the lane.
Zach Johnson and Sam Waardenburg each added 10 points in the loss.
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