No. 10 Virginia defeated Miami 84-62 to go to the ACC Tournament championship game

No. 10 Virginia defeated Miami 84-62 to go to the ACC Tournament championship game

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Ugonna Onyenso scored 17 points on 8-for-9 shooting, Thijs De Ridder and Sam Lewis each added 16 points, and No. 10 Virginia defeated Miami 84-62 on Friday to advance to the ACC Tournament championship game for the first time since 2023.

Malik Thomas scored nine of his 15 points in the second half, helping the Cavaliers improve to 29-4 under first-year coach Ryan Odom.

Miami’s Tru Washington scored 13 points, and Shelton Henderson added 12 as the team shot 39% from the field and was outrebounded 35-24.

Virginia broke open a tightly contested defensive game with a 13-2 run during the final 2:47 of the first half, taking a 38-23 lead at the intermission. Chance Mallory finished the run with a sprinting 3-pointer that beat the buzzer after a Miami mistake.

The hurricanes never recovered.

The gap ballooned to 18 points six minutes into the second half, as Miami struggled to find open lanes to attack the basket against the bigger Cavaliers. Miami struggled from deep, missing 10 of its first 11 shots from beyond the 3-point line.

Miami staged a comeback, narrowing the score to 53-42 after Noam Dovrat made two three-pointers and Henderson scored following a missed fastbreak shot. But Thomas took over and scored eight of Virginia’s next ten points, bringing the lead back to 18 with eight minutes remaining.

Virginia’s lead increased to 26 points late in the second half.

Miami is awaiting their NCAA Tournament seed.

Virginia will meet the winner of Clemson vs. No. 1 Duke on Saturday.