Second-seed UVA broke open a tight game with a late 7-0 run to put away #15 seed Belmont, 79-67, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Charlotte, N.C.
Virginia (30-3) led 40-32 at the half and pushed its lead to 51-37 with 15:22 to go before a 13-3 Bruin run got the lead down to three, 53-50, on a Reece Chamberlain jumper with 10:23 to go.
The Cavs wouldn’t shake Belmont until the final three minutes. Up 64-60 coming out of the final media timeout, Anthony Gill hit two free throws with 2:35 left, then converted an and-one on Virginia’s next possession with 1:53 to go to push the lead to nine, 69-60.
A pair of Malcolm Brogdon free throws after an Evan Bradds miss from three made it 71-60 UVA with 1:32 to go, and Belmont never got closer than nine from there.
The Bruins (22-11) shot 50 percent in the second half (14-of-28) and finished at 47.4 percent for the game, and were 8-of-25 from three-point range (32 percent), a bit down from the 38.2 percent Belmont shot from long-range on the season.
Virginia shot 45.6 percent from the floor for the game and was 6-of-17 (35.3 percent) from three.
Brogdon led the Cavs with 22 points, 16 in the first half, though he was 0-for-6 from the field in the second half after going 6-for-11 from the field in the opening 20 minutes.
Gill finished with 16 points, 13 in the second half, and was 8-of-11 from the foul line.
Justin Anderson had a big night for Virginia off the bench, scoring 15 on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and 6-of-7 shooting from the foul line.
UVA as a team was 21-of-25 from the line, to Belmont’s 5-of-8.
The ‘Hoos outrebounded the Bruins 35-29.
After several games in a row of double-digit turnovers, Virginia committed just seven on Friday.
Virginia plays #7 seed Michigan State, a 70-63 winner over #10 seed Georgia, on Sunday in the third round.
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Chris Graham
