CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – Ugonna Onyenso scored 17 points on 8-for-9 shooting, Thijs De Ridder and Sam Lewis each scored 16 points and No. 10 Virginia beat Miami 84-62 on Friday to advance to the ACC Tournament championship game for the first time since 2023.
Mailk Thomas scored nine of his 15 points in the second half for the Cavaliers, who improved to 29-4 under first-year coach Ryan Odom.
Tru Washington scored 13 points and Shelton Henderson added 12 for Miami, which shot just 39% from the field and was outrebounded 35-24.
Virginia broke open a tightly contested defensive game with a 13-2 run over the final 2:47 of the first half for a 38-23 lead at the break. Chance Mallory closed out the run with a running 3-pointer to beat the buzzer following a Miami turnover.
The Hurricanes never recovered.
The lead grew to 18 points six minutes into the second half as Miami struggled to find lanes to attack the basket against the taller Cavaliers. Miami couldn’t hit from deep, missing 10 of its first 11 shots from behind the 3-point line.
Miami made a run and closed within 53-42 after Noam Dovrat hit two 3s and Henderson followed up a miss on a fastbreak with a two-handed dunk. But Thomas took over and scored eight of Virginia’s next 10 points to push the lead back to 18 points with eight minutes left.
Virginia’s lead reached 26 points late in the second half.
Up next
Miami: Awaits NCAA Tournament seed.
Virginia: Will face the winner of Clemson and No. 1 Duke on Saturday.
— Associated Press —
