Missouri
#13 Virginia
Men's Basketball Falls To No. 13 Virginia, 85-72
1/20/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 20, 2001
By HANK KURZ Jr.
AP Sports Writer
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Travis Watson's huge dunk and free throw with 4:10 left gave No. 13 Virginia the lead, and the Cavaliers held off No. 20 Missouri 85-72 Saturday in a game that was tight until the final minutes.
Watson, held out of the starting lineup because of a strained right hamstring, took a pass from Donald Hand and dunked while being fouled, giving the Cavaliers a 70-69 lead. His free throw pushed the lead to two, and Virginia (13-3) held on by showing a deft touch from the foul line.
The Cavaliers were 18-for-21 from the line in the second half and 34-for-41 for the game. Missouri was just 12-for-19 overall at the line.
Missouri (12-5), which got 22 points from Clarence Gilbert and 20 from Kareem Rush, went nearly 3 1/2 minutes without another point after Rush's fourth 3-pointer gave the Tigers a 69-68 lead with 4:19 to play.
Twice the Tigers missed the front end of one-and-one attempts from the line, allowing the Cavaliers to pull away as the sellout crowd roared, chanting "ACC, ACC" once the outcome was no longer in question.
Hand led Virginia with 19 points, Chris Williams had 17 and Watson finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
The victory allowed Virginia to close its nonconference schedule with an 11-0 record, its first perfect mark outside the ACC since 1981-82, when the Cavaliers went 15-0 in Ralph Sampson's junior year.
Early in the second half, the Tigers seemed primed to take control
Johnnie Parker capped a 10-3 run to open the half with a one-handed putback dunk that give Missouri a 40-37 lead. Then Roger Mason Jr. got hot, scoring the next seven points in a span of just 55 seconds.
After Rush's third 3-pointer brought the Tigers back to even at 45, the lead changed hands several times over the next few minutes.
At one point, Williams' alley-oop dunk gave Virginia 51-48 lead and Gilbert tied it with a 3-pointer 16 seconds later. Just 8 seconds later, Hand's 3-pointer restored the Cavaliers' lead, but Gilbert kept the shooting show going, scoring on a driving bank shot to make it 54-53.
Shortly thereafter, Watson made his big move down the middle, the Tigers came up short at the line and the Cavaliers were on their way.
