Virginia comes up big in OT to get by Boston College

WASHINGTON — Isaac McKneely and Reece Beekman each buried a crucial 3-pointer in overtime and Virginia bolstered its NCAA Tournament chances by outlasting pesky Boston College 66-60 in Thursday's Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinal.

McKneely connected from the right wing 36 seconds into the extra period to give the Cavaliers a 60-57 edge after the Eagles' Mason Madsen forced overtime with a buzzer-beating jumper from just inside the arc.

Virginia bottled up Boston College throughout the first three minutes of the extra session and doubled its lead on Beekman's trey with 1:56 to play. Claudell Harris Jr. answered with a triple on the Eagles' ensuing possession to make it 63-60, but Jordan Minor's layup on Virginia's next offensive set all but sealed the Cavaliers' win.

Third-seeded Virginia (23-9) will face 10th-seeded North Carolina State (20-14) on Friday night after the Wolfpack upset second-seeded and No. 11 Duke 74-69 earlier Thursday. The Cavaliers and NC State split their two regular-season meetings.

McKneely's trey was his only field goal of the night on eight attempts. He finished with five points, four rebounds and four assists. Beekman bundled 11 points with 11 assists and seven rebounds, while Jacob Groves paced Virginia with 15 points.

Madsen finished with nine points for 11th-seeded Boston College (19-15). Fifth-year senior Quinten Post led the Eagles with 23 points and 13 rebounds in his final collegiate game. Harris added 14 points and hit four of Boston College's nine 3-pointers.

Post engineered a personal 5-0 run with a straightaway 3-pointer and a layup to slide the Eagles ahead 51-47 with 8:32 left in the game.

Virginia pulled even at 53 on Dante Harris' midrange jumper before Post answered to bump Boston College back up 55-53 at the 5:20 mark.

Neither team scored again until McKneely hit two of three free throws to square the score at 55 with 2:55 to play. Minor smothered Post's fadeaway jumper and drew a foul on the Cavaliers' ensuing offensive possession, only to miss both free throws to keep the game tied at 55 with a minute to play. Virginia missed nine free throws in the second half and finished the game 8-for-18 at the line.

The Cavaliers slid ahead 57-55 on Groves' free throws with 29 seconds left before Madsen's season-saving jumper set up overtime.

Boston College made its first four 3-pointers of the game and finished the first half 6 of 13 from distance to lead 35-29 at the break.

—Tanner Malinowski, Field Level Media