Jan. 16, 2010
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP)–Sylven Landesberg scored 18 points and surprising Virginia won its seventh straight game and remained the only unbeaten team in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 75-57 victory against No. 23 Miami on Saturday night.
The Cavaliers (11-4, 3-0 ACC) improved to 3-0 against ranked teams, holding the Hurricanes to 31.5 percent shooting and finally pulling them away in the final minutes.
Miami (15-3, 1-3) concluded a tough trip to Virginia. The Hurricanes joined the Top 25 this week for the third year in a row, a first in their history, but trailed at Virginia Tech by as many as 35 in the first half Wednesday night in an 81-66 loss–then they came to Virginia.
The Cavaliers did nothing to disappoint an energized, near-sellout crowd, taking a 33-21 halftime lead and never letting Miami get closer than nine in the closing 20 minutes.
Shortly after Malcolm Grant’s jumper pulled the Hurricanes to 55-46 with 7:51 to play, Sammy Zeglinski’s 3-pointer sparked a 10-2 run for Virginia that gave them a comfortable margin, and coach Tony Bennett was allowed to empty his bench in the closing minutes.
Mustapha Farrakhan scored 13 points and Zeglinski and Mike Scott each had 10 for Virginia, while the 6-foot Zeglinski and 5-11 Jontel Evans shared the Cavaliers’ rebounding lead with seven. Virginia shot 52 percent and is 3-0 in the ACC for the first time since 1994-95.
James Dews led Miami with 13 points and Dwayne Collins had 11 points and nine rebounds.
Miami missed its first nine shots and made only 5 of 23 in the opening half, but still was within 33-21 at halftime. The Hurricanes were within 10 in the final seconds, but Jontel Evans grabbed a loose ball and swished a high-arching shot from about 15 feet at the buzzer.
The Hurricanes stayed in it at the foul line, outscoring Virginia 10-1 in the half.
Miami returns from its two-game road swing to Coral Gables and the BankUnited Center – where the ‘Canes are 9-0 on the season – for a rematch with Boston College on Tues., Jan. 19 at 9 p.m.
Miami five-game ACC packs start as low as $75 and single-game tickets begin at just $10. For more information, please call the Hurricane Ticket Office at 1-800-GO-CANES.
