UVa. led by as many as 11 points in the second half, but a late Boston College rally pushed the Eagles to a 53-52 upset win Sunday in Chestnut Hill.
Virginia (20-9, 10-6 ACC) led 43-32 with 10:24 left after a three-pointer by Taylor Barnette. The lead was 51-46 at the 2:17 mark on a dunk by Akil Mitchell off a pass from Joe Harris, but Eddie Odio responded with a dunk on the other end at 1:38 that narrowed the lead to three, and then Odio blocked a runner in the lane by Harris that led to a fast-break layup by Olivier Hanlan that pulled the Eagles to within 51-50 at the 1:15 mark.
Harris made one of two free throws with 29 seconds left to extend the lead to 52-50. Boston College called timeout and set up a play that ended with Joe Rahon hitting an open three with eight seconds left to give BC the 53-52 lead.
Virginia had one last chance, but Jontel Evans turned the ball over with 0.4 seconds left to essentially seal the game.
Mitchell stole the ensuing Boston College inbounds pass and actually made the shot after, but the ball had been released well after the final buzzer.
Mitchell led Virginia with 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field. Harris had 14 points, but made only four of his 11 shot attempts.
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