CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The William & Mary men's basketball team closed out the non-conference portion of the schedule with a 72-40 setback at No. 3/5 Virginia on Saturday afternoon. Junior bigman Nathan Knight led all scorers with 22 points to go with five rebounds and two blocked shots.
 
W&M led early, but Virginia (11-0) scored 12-straight points as part of a 20-2 run to take the lead for good. Ty Jerome and Jay Huff hit back-to-back 3-pointers to extend the Cavaliers lead to 25-8 with 8:33 left. W&M used a 7-0 run thanks to freshman Chase Audige and Knight to narrow the margin to 10, 31-21, with just a minute remaining in the opening period.
 
The Tribe (4-8) scored the first five points of the second half to cut the deficit to 34-28 just over a minute into the frame. Knight knocked down a baseline jumper, before junior Justin Pierce drilled a left wing 3-pointer at the 18:52 mark.
 
The reigning ACC Champions responded with seven points in a row as part of a 17-2 run to put the game out of reach. Kyle Guy led Virginia with nine points during the spurt, including the final six to extend the margin to 51-30 with 9:59 to play.
 
How It Happened
- The Tribe led early 6-5 after a pair of Matt Milon free throws at the 17:17 mark. Virginia opened up a seven-point cushion thanks to eight-straight points from De'Andre Hunter and Jerome. Hunter's finish in the paint with 14:21 remaining in the first half gave UVA a 13-6 lead and forced a Tribe timeout. Hunter led UVa with 18 points.
- After an Audige putback, Virginia scored 12 points in a row to extend the run to 20-2. Jerome beat the shot clock with a fading corner 3-pointer, before Jay Huff knocked down a top of the key triple to extend the home team's lead to 25-8 with 8:33 left in the half.
- Knight and Audige sparked a 7-0 Tribe run to pull W&M within 10. Knight converted an old-fashion 3-point play with a driving lay-up, before Audige drilled a fast-break triple off a steal. Knight's free throw at the 1:01 mark cut the margin to 31-21.
- Virginia's Braxton Key knocked down a trio of free throws with 23 seconds, before L.J. Owens' leaner in the closing seconds provided the halftime margin of 34-23. The Tribe held the Cavaliers without a field goal for the final 3:30 of the opening half.
- Knight connected on a baseline jumper to start the second half, and Pierce followed with left wing triple to narrow the gap to 34-28 just over a minute into the final period.
- UVa answered with seven in a row as part of a 17-2 run to extend its lead to 21. Guy, who finished with 16 points, scored nine point during the spurt for the Cavaliers, including the final six to push the lead to 51-30 midway through the final half.
- Virginia ended the game on a 15-2 run to provide the final margin. The Cavaliers scored nine of their 15 points on the run at the free throw line.
 
Inside the Numbers
- Virginia shot 52 percent (13-of-25) in the opening half to take an 11-point half-time lead. The Cavaliers finished the game at 48 percent (24-of-50) from the floor.
- W&M connected on just 1-of-10 from 3-point range in both halves, going 2-of-20 overall in the contest.  
- The Tribe turned the ball over just twice in the first half and finished with only seven total turnovers. It marked the fifth-straight game that W&M tallied 10 or fewer turnovers.
- Virginia held the advantage at the free throw line, hitting 19-of-21 (90.5 percent) at the charity stripe compared to 6-of-16 (37.5 percent) for the Tribe.
 
Notes
Junior Nathan Knight led all scorers with 22 points, reaching the 20-point mark for the sixth time in the last eight games and the seventh time this season … He has led W&M in scoring in nine of 12 games this season and each of the last four contests … Knight blocked a pair of shots to move into third on the Tribe's career list along with Terry Tarpey '16 at 119 career rejections.
 
Up Next
- The Tribe opens Colonial Athletic Association play with its first two conference games inside Kaplan Arena. W&M welcomes James Madison to Williamsburg on Friday, Dec. 28, at 7 p.m., before hosting Towson on Sunday, Dec. 30, at 4 p.m.
- Both games will be steamed on Tribe Athletics TV via Stretch Internet for FREE in HD.
- Fans can purchase discounted $5 with the Flashback Friday promotion for the game with JMU. The special offer is only available online and fans can use the special code FBF.
- Tribe fans can catch the men's basketball action over the Tribe Radio Network with Jay Colley and Charlie Woollum on the call. The Tide 92.3 FM and 107.9 Bach FM are the flagship stations of the Tribe Radio Network and the audio is also available over the Web at TribeAthletics.com.