Virginia Downs Men’s Basketball, 68-59, In ACC Quarterfinal

GREENSBORO, N.C.—Second-seeded and 13th-ranked Virginia shot 58.3 percent in the second half and beat No. 7 seed North Carolina, 68-59, in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday night at the Greensboro Coliseum.
 
The Cavaliers advance to Friday’s semifinal round to meet the winner of Thursday night’s quarterfinal between No. 3 seed Clemson and No. 6 seed NC State. Virginia improved to 24-6 this season and beat the Tar Heels for the second time in three meetings in 2022-23. Carolina fell to 20-13.
 
The Cavaliers hit 14 of 24 field goal tries in the second half and made 16 of 22 free throws in the game, holding the Tar Heels at bay down the stretch. Jayden Gardner led UVA with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Reece Beekman added 15 points, and Armaan Franklin had 14.
 
RJ Davis led all scorers with 24 points, hitting 4 of 8 three-pointers. Caleb Love scored 11 but missed 12 of 15 shots.
 
Armando Bacot was limited after spraining his left ankle and playing under 18 minutes in Wednesday night’s second-round win over Boston College. The Cavs limited Armando Bacot’s touches early in the game, forcing him away from the basket and holding him to two points and two rebounds in 16 first-half minutes. Bacot scored the first bucket of the game and did not score again until a putback with 10:40 remaining in the game, attempting just four field goals. He played 21:25 in the game, including just five second-half minutes.
 
UVA went on a 14-2 run in a span of 4:15 to take a 23-15 lead into the final media timeout of the first half. The Cavs hit 7 of 9 shots during the spurt. The Tar Heels responded with three consecutive three-pointers (two by Davis and one by Leaky Black) to retake momentum in the final four minutes and were fortunate to trail just 25-24 at the break.
 
Virginia hit 9 of its first 12 second-half shots and rebuilt its advantage, but Davis kept Carolina in the game with two three-pointers early in the half. Davis scored 18 of UNC’s first 30 points, hitting 7 of his first 9 shots and 4 of his first 6 three-pointers. He scored 20 of UNC’s first 37 points for his seventh 20-point effort this season but didn’t score again until a free throw made it 55-51 UVA with 3:56 remaining.