Canes Come Up One Point Short, 52-51 at No. 21/23 Virginia

Box Score | Season Stats

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) – Mike Scott scored 23 points and No. 21 Virginia held off a rally to beat Miami 52-51 Saturday night for the Cavaliers’ 12th consecutive win.

The victory wasn’t secured until the final second when Miami’s Durand Scott missed on a driving layup and grabbed the rebound, but Sammy Zeglinski grabbed the ball before he could go back up with it, tying him up without fouling as the shot clock expired.

Zeglinski added six points, making a 3-pointer with 3:42 to play just after Miami had taken its first lead since early in the game. The Cavaliers (14-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) continued their best start since the 1981-82 team opened 27-1.

Kenny Kadji led Miami (9-5, 0-1) with 14 points and Scott had 12, all in the second half, but the Hurricanes came up just short.

Zeglinski’s wide open 3-pointer with 3:42 to play was his first basket of the half, and gave the Cavaliers a 48-46 lead. After a Miami miss, Jontel Evans’ floater doubled Virginia’s lead to 50-46, but Durand Scott’s two free throws for Miami made it 50-48 with 2:34 left.

Mike Scott’s driving basket made it 52-48, but Evans was caught holding Durand Scott’s wrist on his driving basket, and Scott’s bonus free throw again made it a 1-point advantage.

Joe Harris had a chance to pad it for Virginia with 18.2 seconds to go, but he badly missed the front end of a one-and-one, Miami rebounded and called timeout with 13.1 seconds left.

They set up the play for Durand Scott, who got a good look at the basket driving in from the left, but came up short and never got a chance to put it back up before the final buzzer.

The second half was close throughout.

Malcolm Brogdon gave Virginia 40-36 lead with a 3-pointer, but Kadji hit a pair of free throws and Durand Scott scored on another drive, this with the left hand, to tie it at 40-all.

After Harris hit a 3 for Virginia, his first field goal of the game, and Rion Brown answered with one for Miami, also his first field goal, Scott’s baby hook gave Virginia a 45-53 lead.

Kadji made a free throw for Miami with 4:42 left, and the Hurricanes retained possession when he missed the second and the ball went out of bounds off Assane Sene. Miami didn’t score, but Kadji did moments later with a dunk over Harris, giving Miami its first lead since early.

That set up the dramatic finish.

Virginia led 26-17 at halftime, and got the lead to 33-23 on Jontel Evans’ foul-line jumper with 16:02 to play before the Hurricanes started to rally. Kadji started it with a 3-pointer from the top off the key, and Reggie Johnson scored on a putback for the third time in the half.

After Scott hit a pair of free throws, Malcolm Grant made a 3-pointer and Scott scored on an acrobatic drive, was fouled and made the shot, pulling Miami to within 35-34 with 12:11 left.

Virginia fell behind 10-4 early after missing eight shots in a row, a streak Scott ended with a baby hook. After Rion Brown made a free throw for Miami, the Hurricanes missed seven shots in a row and the Cavaliers started a 20-6 run that lasted the rest of the half.

Scott scored eight points in the run.

Miamishot just 24 percent in the half.

Game Notes

– Malcolm Grant started the game with a three, tying Jack McClinton for Miami’s school record for most career consecutive games with a made three-point field goal. Grant’s streak dates back to Dec. 30, 2009 against Pepperdine. It also moves Grant into the top-10 all-time in ACC play for the same record, tying him with Jack McClinton and J.J. Redick (Duke, 2006).

– Kenny Kadji (14 pts., 10 reb.) recorded on his third double-double of the season  and second in two games.

– Durand Scott scored all of his 12 points against Virginia in the second half and went 4-4 from the line.

– Trey McKinney Jones tied his career high in steals in the first half with three theftstonight. The last time was against UMass on Dec. 3, 2011.

– Rion Brown has knocked down a three in five-straight games.

– After trailing 26-17 and shooting just 24 percent from the field in the first half, Miami came out scoring 16 points in eight minutes and going on a 11-2 run in the second stanza.

– Miami scored 51 pointsagainst the second-best scoring defense in the country, which only allows 50.4 points per game. Miami also shot 29 percent from beyond the arc against the ninth-best three-point

defense in Division I, who makes opponents shoot less than 26.8 percent from long range.