In its first ACC game of the season, the No. 9 Virginia men’s basketball team was tasked with a home test against Boston College, which came in atop the conference after an upset of Duke. The Eagles (10-4, 1-1 ACC) gave the Cavaliers (12-1, 1-0 ACC) all they could handle, but Virginia came out victorious in a wild 59-58 affair. The win was the 200th of Virginia Coach Tony Bennett’s career.
Virginia may not have pulled out a win if not for sophomore guard Ty Jerome, who dropped a career-high 31 points. Jerome made huge shots down the stretch as the Cavaliers went shot-for-shot with the Eagles, with his fellow guards scuffling from the field. The sophomore made six of his nine three-point attempts, four of which came in crunch time in the second half.
Boston College’s athletic guards had an answer for Jerome the entire game. Junior guard Jerome Robinson led the Eagles with 29 points on 12-22 shooting, while junior guard Jordan Chatman chipped in 18 points and went 4-5 from deep.
Despite its shooting struggles, Virginia squeaked by with solid interior defense and offensive rebounding. Senior forward Isaiah Wilkins grabbed 14 rebounds — five on the offensive glass — and had four blocks, including a game-saver in the closing seconds. Second-chance possessions gave Jerome enough opportunities to cash in with big buckets.
The ending to the game was as wild as the rest of it, as Boston College gained possession with 3.7 seconds left down only by a point. Virginia appeared to gain possession back after forcing an errant inbounds pass, but a clock malfunction forced the teams to redo the inbound. In its second chance, Boston College was called for an offensive foul, and the Cavaliers were able to run the clock out.
Virginia claimed victory in a tough ACC opener, and it will not get any easier for the Cavaliers. Their next test comes on the road against Virginia Tech Wednesday before taking on No. 13 North Carolina at home next Saturday.
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