CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Virginia Beach’s Devon Hall scored 17 points in his final game at John Paul Jones Arena and No. 1 Virginia outlasted Notre Dame 62-57 on Saturday.
Ty Jerome added 13 points for the Cavaliers (28-2, 17-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won their fifth in a row.
Bonzie Colson, playing in just his second game since missing 15 with a broken foot, had 24 points and 14 rebounds for the Irish (18-13, 8-10). Martinas Geben added 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Virginia led 55-54 with just over 3 minutes to play before Hall, a Cape Henry Collegiate graduate, scored on a tough drive. After Notre Dame missed, Isaiah Wilkins hit a pair of free throws, pushing the Cavaliers’ lead to five. A 3-pointer by Matt Farrell got Notre Dame within 59-57 with 2:24 to play. The Irish had a chance to tie, or take the lead, in the final minute, but Colson couldn’t get free from Wilkins’ defense and, in his bid to pass the ball out, the Irish committed a 30-second shot clock violation.
De’Andre Hunter, whose banked-in 3-pointer gave Virginia a stunning victory at Louisville on Thursday night, hit 3 of 4 free throws to finish it.
As the game ended, the Cavaliers gathered at midcourt, where coach Tony Bennett spoke privately with the team, then walked out of the huddle, clapping to thank the fans and, hand raised and fist pumping, headed for the locker room.
The Cavaliers are the top seed in the ACC Tournament.
BIG PICTURE
Notre Dame: The Irish are not a middle-of-the-pack ACC team with Colson healthy. He made just his second appearance after missing 15 games with a broken bone in his foot and dominated the first half with 18 points and nine rebounds in 18 minutes. Conditioning may have been a factor for him in the second half as he picked up his first three personal fouls in the first 11 1/2 minutes.
Virginia: The Cavaliers got a big scare when scoring leader Kyle Guy (14.3 ppg) went down hard and stayed down for a few minutes late in the first half. He was eventually helped off the court and into the tunnel favoring his left leg. He did not join the team for warmups after halftime, but joined the team huddle before play began to rousing cheers with a brace covering his left knee. He played some in the second half.
UP NEXT
The Irish will play Wednesday in the ACC Tournament at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
The top-seeded Cavaliers open play in the ACC Tournament on Thursday.
