CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Kihei Clark made both ends of a one-and-one with eight seconds left to provide the winning margin and No. 22 Virginia beat Miami 46-44 on Wednesday night for its seventh victory in a row.
Six of the Cavaliers’ victories during the streak have been by a total of 13 points.
Junior Jay Huff led Virginia with 17 points — and they were the Cavaliers’ first 17 points of the game. Mamadi Diakite had 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Virginia (22-7, 14-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) hasn’t lost since Feb. 8 against Louisville. The teams meet again Saturday in Charlottesville.
Miami (14-15, 6-13) lost its third game in a row and is winless in seven games against ranked teams this season.
Keith Stone’s 3-pointer for Miami with 2:16 to go made it 44-all. The Hurricanes then committed a turnover and missed two shots before freshman Harlond Beverly fouled Clark near the midcourt stripe.
After the Virginia sophomore sank both free throws, Miami’s DJ Vasiljevic missed a runner from 10 feet.
The Cavaliers won even though they missed their final six shots and went without a field goal for the final 4:46. They shot 37 percent but won while scoring less than 50 points for the fourth time this season, and held an opponent under 50 for the 12th time.
Chris Lykes led Miami with 16 points but cut his eye in a scrum with 12 minutes left and missed the rest of the game. The Hurricanes trailed 33-30 when he departed.
The score was 9-9 after 13 minutes before the offensive pace picked up.
The first half was a two-man show. Huff was the only Cavaliers player to score in the first 16:42. Lykes scored 14 points in the opening half, including a buzzer-beater to cut Virginia’s lead to 24-23 at halftime.
BIG PICTURE
The Cavaliers, ranked for the first time since early January, helped their chances of remaining in the Top 25 next week.
The Hurricanes have lost 17 games in a row against ranked teams. Their most recent win came in February 2018 at No. 9 North Carolina.
UP NEXT
Virginia: The Cavaliers play at home Saturday against No. 10 Louisville, which won 80-73 when the teams met on Feb. 8.
Miami: The Hurricanes conclude the regular season Saturday at home against Syracuse. The Orange have won three of the past four meetings.
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