#14 UVa. broke open a tight game with an extended 25-0 second-half run to vanquish Notre Dame, 70-49, on Saturday in Charlottesville, Va.
Virginia (23-5, 14-1 ACC) made 10 straight shots from the field in the stretch, while Notre Dame (14-14, 5-10 ACC) missed 10 straight and missed the front ends of two one-and-ones.
The play of the game came at the 9:17 mark toward the beginning of the stretch. With Virginia up 48-43, Zach Auguste found himself under the basket for an apparent wide-open dunk, but Justin Anderson blocked the shot, corraled the rebound, and ignited a fast break that ended with an Anthony Gill slam and a seven-point lead.
The Cavs scored on 11 straight possessions in the more than nine-minute stretch that turned the game around to extend their lead to 68-43 on a three-pointer by Malcolm Brogdon with 3:03 to go.
UVa. looked to be in control in the first half, leading by as many as 12 before a 15-4 Notre Dame run to close out the half sent the two teams to the locker room tied at 30.
A Garrick Sherman layup with 16:56 to go gave Notre Dame a 36-32 lead, and a Pat Connaughton and-one made it 41-38 Irish at the 13:54 mark.
Notre Dame would score just four more times from the field the rest of the afternoon, three of those makes coming in garbage time in the last 2:32.
Virginia shot 63.6 percent from the floor (28-44), including an otherworldly 16-of-21 (79 percent) in the second half. Notre Dame was 21-of-54 from the field (38.9 percent) for the game, but was just 9-of-29 (31 percent) in the second half, and the Irish missed all seven of its shots from beyond the three-point arc in the second 20 minutes after hitting a blistering 5-of-8 from long range in the first half.
Gill and Akil Mitchell each had 15 points to lead Virginia. Malcolm Brogdon had 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the ‘Hoos, who continue their three-game homestand Wednesday against Miami.
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