Harris' 26 lead Virginia past Virginia Tech
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) -- Joe Harris scored a career-high 26 points and Virginia held national scoring leader Erick Green without a field goal into the second half and swept the season series with Virginia Tech, 73-55, Tuesday night.
Harris matched his career high with five 3-pointers, all in the first half, and Akil Mitchell added 17 points for the Cavaliers (18-6, 8-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won their third game in a row.
Green, who came in averaging 25.3 points, missed his first nine field goal tries and had just one point at halftime as the Hokies (11-13, 2-9) lost their seventh in a row. He made his first field goal, a 3-pointer, with 16:26 to play and finished with 22 points, but on just 4-for-17 shooting.
He scored 35 points in the teams' first meeting, a 74-58 Virginia victory on Jan. 24.
Virginia trailed 18-17 until Teven Jones made a 3-pointer with 10:31 to go in the first half, sparking a half-ending 19-5 run. Harris hit his last two 3-pointers in the run, and Virginia led 36-23.
Green followed his first 3-pointer by scoring 11 straight points for the Hokies, pulling them within 47-36, but Virginia answered with a 10-3 run and the Hokies never challenged again.
The Hokies started walk-on Will Johnston in place of Jarell Eddie, who slammed a bottle down early in the second half of the Hokies' loss to Georgia Tech on Sunday and sat the last 17 minutes of the game.
Johnston made the Hokies' first basket, a 3-pointer, but with Harris hitting three consecutive 3-pointers in the opening minutes, Virginia Tech was behind early. Freshman Marshall Wood gave the Hokies a big early lift with eight first half points, but didn't score again and still finished as the Hokies' second-leading scorer as coach James Johnson continued looking for scoring help for Green.
The Hokies finished shooting 34.6 percent (18 of 52) overall, and 8 of 25 (32 percent) on 3s.