Virginia starts cold, then gets away from Bethune-Cookman

Virginia overcame a frigid first half and pulled away from Bethune-Cookman for a 59-41 victory on Thursday night in Charlottesville, Va.

Elijah Saunders scored 15 points, Ishan Sharma added 12 points with four 3-pointers and Jacob Cofie had 12 points and 10 rebounds as the Cavaliers (6-4) snapped a two-game skid and improved to 5-0 at home.

The Wildcats (2-7) fell to 0-6 on the road and lost their third straight game. Brayon Freeman was the only player in double figures with 14 points on 6-of-19 shooting.

Down three points at halftime and by as many as nine points in the first half, the Cavaliers seized their first lead at 30-29 on Saunders' 3-pointer with 14:48 left in the game.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Seneca Willoughby and Trey Thomas put the Wildcats back ahead 37-34 with 10:16 to play.

Virginia outscored Bethune-Cookman 25-4 the rest of the way.

The Cavaliers surged ahead with a 12-0 run capped by three-point plays by Andrew Rohde and Cofie for a 46-37 lead with 7:25 left.

Virginia scored the last 13 points of the game, punctuated by Cofie's 3-pointer with 30 seconds remaining.

The Wildcats shot just 30.9 percent from the field and 25.0 percent (5 of 20) from 3-point range. The Cavaliers shot 44.0 percent overall and 30.4 percent (7 of 23) from beyond the arc.

Bethune-Cookman never trailed in the first half and led 21-18 at the break.

Virginia missed 14 of its first 15 shots and fell behind 12-3 after 12 minutes.

Sharma's 3-pointer with 7:49 left was the Cavaliers' first made field goal in more than 10 minutes.

Sharma's third 3-pointer of the first half knotted the score at 14-14 with 3:57 remaining.

Freeman scored five of the last seven points for the Wildcats to close out the first half.

Virginia starting point guard Dai Dai Ames missed the game with an ankle injury.

--Field Level Media