Passing key as Virginia rolls past Holy Cross

Dai Dai Ames scored a season-high 16 points and Virginia cruised to a comfortable 67-41 victory over Holy Cross on Friday in Charlottesville, Va.

The Cavaliers (5-2) improved to 5-0 against unranked teams and 4-0 at home. Isaac McKneely and Andrew Rohde each added 13 points.

Virginia put on a clinic of sharing and taking care of the basketball, finishing with 20 assists on 24 made field goals and a season-low six turnovers.

The Crusaders (4-4) lost their second straight game and fell to 1-4 in road contests. Max Green continued his strong start to his freshman season with a team-high 16 points and Caleb Kenney added 10 points and five rebounds.

Virginia quickly expanded a 34-21 halftime lead. Jacob Cofie's dunk pushed the advantage to 46-26 with 15:06 left.

Holy Cross attempted to get back in the game with 3-point shooting but finished 5 for 22 (22.7 percent) from deep.

The Cavaliers shot 43.6 percent overall and 36 percent (9 of 25) from behind the arc.

The Crusaders only attempted five free throws, making two of them. Virginia also won the rebounding battle with a 37-30 edge.

The Crusaders' only lead of the game was 2-0.

The Cavaliers took their first double-digit lead of the game with an 11-0 run, capped by back-to-back 3-pointers by Elijah Saunders and Rohde for a 22-7 lead with 8:59 left. Saunders finished with nine points and a team-high-tying six rebounds.

Virginia's largest lead in the opening half was 30-11 after McKneely's three-point play with 4:52 remaining.

Green topped all scorers with 11 points in the first half, including three 3-pointers. Kenney had eight points, while Ames led Virginia with nine on 4-of-5 shooting.

It was the first meeting of the Cavaliers of the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Crusaders of the Patriot League.

--Field Level Media