SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — London Perrantes scored 22 points and No. 12 Virginia pulled away late for a 71-54 victory over No. 14 Notre Dame on Tuesday night, the Cavaliers’ 10th straight win over the Irish.
Isaiah Wilkins finished with 13 points and nine rebounds, and Devon Hall added 11 points and nine boards for the Cavaliers (16-3, 6-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who improved to 4-1 on the road in league play and inched one-half game closer to conference leaders Florida State and North Carolina.
Perrantes capped a 7-2 second-half spurt with a 3-pointer with 9:24 left, and Ty Jerome followed just over a minute later with a 3 to give Virginia its largest lead to that point, 53-44. After the Irish edged back within five, Jerome knocked down another 3, followed with a runner in the lane, and Perrantes’ fifth 3-pointer got the Virginia lead into double digits with just under 4 minutes to go.
Virginia’s vaunted defense kicked in midway through a low-scoring first half, holding the Irish scoreless for 4 1/2 minutes and without a field goal for nearly 6 minutes. But after a 10-2 Cavaliers’ run put them up by seven, Notre Dame battled back within 27-26 at halftime.
Coming off a career-high 30 points in Saturday’s win over Syracuse, Irish forward V.J. Beachem went 1 of 10 from the field and finished with just three points.
Bonzi Colson had 14 points by halftime but the ACC’s leading rebounder at 10.9 per game didn’t have a single board in the first 20 minutes and finished with only three.
Virginia controlled the glass, 38-22, including 10 on the offensive end that led to 15 second-chance points.
BIG PICTURE
Virginia: Virginia coach Tony Bennett is 6-0 all-time against Notre Dame, including a 61-41 win as coach of Washington State in the 2008 NCAA Tournament.
Notre Dame: Virginia has owned the Irish since they joined the ACC four years ago, winning by an average of more than 13 points. Four days after snapping a four-game losing streak against Syracuse, the Irish failed to do the same against the Cavaliers, and haven’t beaten them since their first meeting in 1981.
UP NEXT
Virginia: The Cavaliers step out of conference to face No. 1 Villanova at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center on Sunday.
Notre Dame: The Irish head to Atlanta to face Georgia Tech on Saturday before hosting No. 17 Duke next Monday.
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