Third-ranked UVA trailed #13 Notre Dame by as many as eight in the second half, but a late 9-0 run broke open a tie game, and the Cavs escaped South Bend with a 62-56 win Saturday night.
Virginia (15-0, 3-0 ACC) had led by as many as 10 early, but went a seven-minute stretch of the first half without a point, allowing the Fighting Irish (15-2, 3-1 ACC) to take a 27-24 lead into the half.
Notre Dame took a 34-26 lead with 17:11 to go on a Pat Connaughton three-pointer, but a quick 7-0 UVA run over the next 1:53 got the ‘Hoos back into it.
It was a nip-and-tuck battle for the next 11 minutes. A pair of threes on back-to-back possessions by Malcolm Brogdon and Justin Anderson ignited what turned into a 12-2 run over the next 4:53, which included a four-minute stretch that saw Notre Dame go scoreless, after a Jerian Grant jumper tied the game at 53 with 4:00 left.
The Anderson three gave Virginia the lead for good, and UVA closed the game out going 4-for-4 from the line in the final 22 seconds.
Grant, Notre Dame’s leading scorer at 17.3 points per game coming in, was held to just six points on 2-of-8 shooting from the field.
Connaughton led the Irish with 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field and 4-of-9 shooting from three-point range.
Notre Dame, which came into the game shooting 55 percent from the field as a team, shot just 33.9 percent from the field (20-of-59) on Saturday.
The Irish finished 10-of-24 from three-point range, but made just five of their 15 attempts in the second half after connecting on five of nine in the first half.
Darion Atkins led the way for Virginia, with 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting, and a team-high eight rebounds. Brogdon had 13 and Anderson 11 after combining for three points total in the first half.
UVA shot 49.0 percent from the field (25-of-51) and was 5-of-11 (45.5 percent) from three-point range.
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