A 17-3 third quarter run broke open a close game, and Virginia went on to a solid 72-50 win over East Carolina on Sunday to close out the Cavalier Classic.
The Cavaliers (8-0, 1-0 ACC) had four players finish in double figures, led by a 15-point performance from Sam Brunelle.
Mir McLean had a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds.
Kaydan Lawson scored 11 points with McKenna Dale coming off the bench to score 10.
Danae McNeal led the Pirates (5-2) with 14 points.
This is the first 8-0 start to a season for Virginia since 1992.
The ‘Hoos led 31-25 at the half, then opened the second half on a 7-2 run, building back up a double-digit lead on a layup from McLean with 7:17 left in the quarter.
Dale’s third three of the game gave the Cavaliers a 43-28 lead midway through the period.
A free throw from London Clarkson with 3:40 remaining built UVA’s lead to 20 points.
The Cavaliers had a 53-32 lead at the start of the fourth period. UVA’s defense held the Pirates to 1-of-7 shooting to start the final period as the offense built up a 62-35 advantage, their largest lead of the game, with 5:12 remaining in the contest.
“I’m definitely proud of our team,” UVA coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton said. “In the second half we got considerably better. It’s been a long month as far as how many games we’ve been playing and we’ve had quick turnarounds, including having only one day to prep, so we haven’t really had a chance to work on ourselves.
“Until today, nobody has played a zone against us, and we knew they’d probably play us 40 minutes in zone. We haven’t gone against zone or practiced it since probably preseason. In the first half we really needed to settle in and find our rhythm, and then we did that in the second half.”
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Chris Graham
