Virginia Cavaliers vs Boston College Eagles Match Player Stats On Jan 07, 2020

Jared Hamilton hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 38 seconds left and short-handed Boston College handed No. 18 Virginia its first regular-season ACC loss in 11 months, 60-53 on Tuesday in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

The Eagles (9-6, 3-1 ACC) started three freshmen and played without senior point guard Derryck Thornton, who leads the team in scoring and assists, due to an ankle injury. Senior forward Nik Popovic missed his sixth straight game with a back injury.

Jay Heath scored 17 points and Hamilton had 16 for Boston College, which weathered a 20-3 second-half run by Virginia. Steffon Mitchell and Jairus Hamilton each added 10 points for the Eagles.

The cold-shooting Cavaliers (11-3, 3-1) had not dropped a conference game in the regular season since an 81-71 home loss to Duke on Feb. 9, 2019.

Virginia, which had won the last six meetings against Boston College, shot just 32.7 percent from the field and 18.8 percent (3 of 16) from 3-point distance. Braxton Key scored 16 points, Kihei Clark had 12 and Kody Stattmann added 11.

Boston College opened the second half with a 12-4 run to take its largest lead at 42-30, finishing the surge with Heath's 3-pointer off the glass and a jumper by Jairus Hamilton.

Virginia stormed ahead with its big run. After Clark's 3-pointer tied it at 45-45, he forced a turnover at the other end that led to a three-point play by Mamadi Diakite. Clark added two free throws to put the Cavaliers up 50-45 with 5:25 to play.

Boston College punched back to take a 53-51 lead, but Key's layup with 1:38 left tied it up.

After Hamilton's clutch 3-pointer, Diakite missed a potential tying 3-pointer with 18 seconds left. Mitchell and Jared Hamilton iced the game with two free throws apiece in the final seconds.

The Eagles were up 30-26 at halftime.

UVA opened the game with a quick bucket by Diakite, who picked up two fouls within the first 52 seconds and went to the bench. The Cavaliers went 5 minutes and 21 seconds before scoring again, missing seven straight shots before Key's layup with 14:13 left.

Boston College took its largest lead of the half at 18-8 when Heath canned his second straight 3-pointer, but Virginia responded with a 12-3 run to get within 21-20.

--Field Level Media