With Syracuse looming, Virginia rolls past Miami

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Entering this week, a lot of Virginia fans in the Central Virginia area saw a huge showdown looming against Syracuse on Saturday, a game that has the potential to be one of the biggest in Cavalier basketball history.

Tony Bennett and his team saw a game against Miami on Wednesday night and had no intention of looking past the Hurricanes.

Paced by a career-high 15 points from freshman guard London Perrantes, No. 12 Virginia dismantled the Hurricanes 65-40 at John Paul Jones Arena in front of 11,812 fans.

It was Bennett’s 100th victory with the team.

“Not so much,” Bennett said when asked if his team had thought about Saturday’s game against the Orange. “I thought we played solidly tonight and we were going to make Miami earn and take contested shots.”

Perrantes was a perfect 5 of 5 from the field, including four from long distance. Guard Malcolm Brogdon continued his strong play as he added 15 points. It was Brogdon’s 16th straight double-figure scoring game.

Virginia (24-5, 15-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) was dominant in the second half as it used a 22-10 run to take a 49-31 lead with 7:10 to play.

“They’ve got a terrific team,” Miami coach Jim Larranaga said. “They were terrific tonight; and, if we can’t score easily, we need to make some shots. We had some good looks and they didn’t fall for us.”

After a shaky start from the field in the first half, Virginia recovered to shoot 45.5 percent (20 of 44) for the game. The Cavaliers made 9 of 16 3-pointers and finished 16 of 20 from the free-throw line.

“I thought our guys had the right mindset,” Bennett said. “He (Perrantes) got some good looks and that was important to us. I’ve seen him shoot the ball well, and he’s worked hard at it, so good for him.”

Miami had a rough first half, and it got even worse in the second as the Hurricanes struggled from the field the entire game. The majority of their points came from the free-throw line, where they were 16 of 27.

The Hurricanes tallied just four field goals in the second half and finished with just 12 for the game.

“We shot 26 percent overall,” Larranaga said. “It’s hard to win when you shoot that badly, but the credit goes to them. They make you take difficult shots.”

Forward Erik Swoope led Miami with 13 points — nine from the line. Guard Rion Brown added 12 points for the Hurricanes (14-14, 5-10), who shot just 26.1 percent (12 of 46) and came up empty on all 12 of their 3-point attempts.

Miami grabbed an 8-5 lead before Virginia guard Justin Anderson checked into the game. Anderson sparked a quick 10-2 run for the Cavaliers during a stretch that lasted just under three minutes.

Virginia continued to lead for the remainder of the half and took its biggest lead at 24-15 before holding a 27-20 edge at the break.

Perrantes led the Cavaliers with nine first-half points. Guards Joe Harris and Brogdon added six points apiece for Virginia.

The Cavaliers shot just 33 percent for the half but made 5 of 10 3-point attempts. Perrantes and Harris each hit two 3-pointers.

Miami, which was 0 for 7 from 3-point range before halftime, got a team-high eight first-half points from Brown.

NOTES: Virginia can win the ACC regular season title with a win over Syracuse on Saturday. … Miami is 10-6 against Virginia in the series that dates back to 1966. … Before Wednesday, Virginia was allowing 55.3 points per game, which led the nation. … G Rion Brown totaled 43 points in the Hurricanes’ two wins last week, making seven 3-pointers. … Miami is 0-5 against ranked opponents this season… Virginia has now won 12 straight games, its first 12-game ACC winning streak since 1981-82.