BOSTON (AP) — Reece Beekman had 18 points and eight assists and Virginia held off a last-minute rally to defeat Boston College 72-68 on Wednesday night.
Quinten Post’s jumper got Boston College within 70-65 with a minute to go. After a Virginia turnover, Mason Madsen hit a layup and connected on the and-one to make it a two-point game with 29 seconds left. BC needed to foul and sent Virginia’s Isaac McKneely to the line. He made two for a 72-68 lead. With 10 seconds left, a held ball was called and Boston College retained possession. Madsen missed a 3-pointer with 4 seconds left and Virginia ran out the clock.
McKneely scored 14 points and Jacob Groves had 13 for Virginia (21-8, 12-6 ACC). Ryan Dunn had 13 rebounds.
Post had 24 points and 10 rebounds, Jaeden Zackery scored 12 and Madsen had 10 for Boston College (15-13, 6-11). The Eagles shot 41% but made only 5 of 22 3-point tries.
READ MORE
Kylan Boswell scores 17, No. 6 Arizona pulls away late to beat Arizona State 85-67
Terrance Shannon Jr. leads No. 13 Illinois past Minnesota 105-97
No. 14 Alabama retains a share of 1st place in the SEC with a 103-88 win over Mississippi
A layup by Devin McGlockton drew Boston College within one point with 13 1/2 minutes left in the second half and his dunk on the next possession gave the Eagles their first lead of the game, 40-39. There were five lead changes in the next seven minutes before Virginia went up 57-51 with three 3-pointers on consecutive possessions — two by McKneely and the third by Groves. They both made 3 of 6 3-pointers for the game.
A pullup 3-pointer by Donald Hand Jr. got Boston College within 66-63 with 2 minutes to go, but Beekman made two free throws and Blake Buchanan hit a jumper for the Cavaliers to set the stage for the final minute.
Virginia took an early 11-2 lead, but a 3-pointer by Zackery got the Eagles within 15-13 with about 8 1/2 minutes left in the first half. Several minutes later, a layup by Madsen made it 22-21. Virginia did not give up the lead and went on to hold a 27-23 edge at halftime.
Virginia reached 50 points for the first time in four games.
Virginia visits No. 10 Duke on Saturday and Boston College hosts Pittsburgh on Saturday.
___ Get poll alerts and updates on AP Top 25 basketball throughout the season. Sign up here ___ AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball