CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Virginia coach Tony Bennett described his team’s game against Northeastern as “one of those smash-mouth games,” and for most of the night, the 22nd-ranked Cavaliers took most of the hits.
At least until Reece Beekman provided a finish to smile about.
Beekman scored 21 points, including the final four of the game as Virginia won a toe-to-toe struggle 56-54 on Saturday.
“Reece kind of decided to take over the game,” Bennett said.
Especially when it was hanging in the balance.
Beekman hit a pair of free throws to pull Virginia even at 54 with 52.7 seconds left, then banked in a short jumper with 5.1 seconds to go for the winning basket.
Bennett heaped praise on the Huskies and coach Bill Coen, in his 18th season, but allowed that “we weren’t ready the way we needed to be, and it showed.”
The Cavaliers (9-1), who used a four-game winning streak to get back into the Top 25, were outshot and outrebounded by the Huskies of the Coastal Athletic Association, but forced 17 turnovers and outscored them 19-10 off takeaways.
After each team took a timeout with 3.2 seconds left, Northeastern (4-7) threw the ball away for its final turnover. Virginia’s Andrew Rohde missed the front end of a 1-and-1, but that only left time for a full-court heave that wasn’t close.
“I thought we had a winning effort but just came up a play short,” Coen said. “I thought our team got better today.”
Chris Doherty led the Huskies with 12 points and Joe Pridgen had 11.
Northeastern was 2-32 against opponents ranked in the AP Top 25 and looking for its first win over a ranked team since Nov. 27, 2015, when it beat No. 15 Miami. The Huskies shot 48.1% (13 for 27) in the first half against the NCAA’s top field goal percentage defense (34.8%) and led 30-24 at halftime. It would have been more if not for their 10 first-half turnovers that Virginia turned into 11 points.
The last one of the night came on a play the Huskies have used effectively.
“I think we just…
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