Reece Beekman made the tiebreaking free throw with 2.3 seconds left to help No. 24 Virginia notch a 56-54 victory over West Virginia on Wednesday night in the consolation game of the Fort Myers Tip-Off in Florida.
After making it 55-54, Beekman missed the second free throw and teammate Ryan Dunn collected the rebound and was fouled. Dunn split two free throws with 0.4 seconds left and West Virginia was unable to get off a last-second shot.
Dunn had a team-high 13 points for the Cavaliers (5-1). Beekman recorded 12 points, five assists and four steals as Virginia bounced back from Monday’s 65-41 loss to Wisconsin.
Jesse Edwards had 17 points and nine rebounds and Quinn Slazinski also scored 17 points for the Mountaineers (2-3), who lost 70-58 to SMU on Monday and went 0-2 in the tournament.
Virginia shot 40.4 percent from the field, including 4 of 18 from 3-point range.
The Mountaineers made 37.3 percent of their shot attempts and were 7 of 21 from behind the arc. West Virginia had a 41-28 rebounding edge but committed 16 turnovers.
Dunn converted a three-point play to give the Cavaliers a 48-47 lead with 3:35 remaining.
Beekman hit a turnaround jumper with 2:45 left to give Virginia a three-point lead.
A short time later, Seth Wilson drained a 3-pointer to give the Mountaineers a 51-50 edge with 1:55 to play.
Beekman’s drive to the hoop with 1:29 left put the Cavaliers back ahead and Dunn’s basket with 45.3 seconds left put Virginia up 54-51.
Slazinski was fouled shooting a trey and made all three free throws with 36.8 seconds left to knot the score.
Andrew Rohde made back-to-back baskets to cap a 10-1 run as the Cavaliers took a 36-26 lead with 13:18 left in the contest.
West Virginia answered with a 16-4 burst to take the lead. Wilson made two 3-pointers and Kobe Johnson followed with a go-ahead trey as the Mountaineers led 42-40 with 8:41 remaining.
Beekman answered with a tying jumper for the Cavaliers before Jacob Groves buried a 3-pointer to put Virginia back in the lead with 7:23 to play.
Slazinski nailed a trey to tie it at 45 with 6:08 remaining.
Isaac McKneely scored eight first-half points as Virginia led 26-23 at the break. Slazinski (11 points) and Edwards (10) combined to score all but two of West Virginia’s points.
–Field Level Media
