No. 22 Virginia barely beats Northeastern 56-54 as Beekman comes up big late

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Reece Beekman scored 21 points, including the final four for No. 22 Virginia in its 56-54 victory over Northeastern on Saturday night.

Beekman hit a pair of free throws to pull Virginia even at 54 with 52.7 seconds left, then banked in a short jumper with 5.1 seconds to go for the winning basket.

The Cavaliers (9-1), who used a four-game winning streak to get back into the Top 25, were outshot and outrebounded by the Huskies of the Coastal Athletic Association, but found a way to win after a toe-to-toe battle down the stretch.

After each team took a timeout with 3.2 seconds left, Northeastern (4-7) threw the ball away for its 17th turnover. Virginia's Andrew Rohde missed the front end of a 1-and-1, but that only left time for a full-court heave by the Huskies that wasn't close.

Chris Doherty led the Huskies with 12 points and Joe Pridgen had 11.

Northeastern was 2-32 against opponents ranked in the AP Top 25 and looking for its first win over a ranked team since Nov. 27, 2015, when it beat No. 15 Miami. The Huskies shot 48.1% (13 for 27) in the first half against the NCAA's top field goal percentage defense (34.8%) and led 30-24 at halftime. It would have been more if not for their 10 first-half turnovers that Virginia turned into 11 points.

BIG PICTURE

Northeastern: The Huskies came in averaging nearly 75 points per game and looked the part early, racing out to a 16-4 lead while badly outrebounding Virginia. Then they went cold and got sloppy as the Cavaliers' defense stiffened and a 16-2 run gave them a 20-18 lead before Northeastern scored nine straight.

Virginia: Cavaliers fans groaned for most of the first 34 minutes as Virginia led only briefly late in the first half, but they cheered when Isaac McKneely made a 3-pointer sandwiched around a pair of late shot-clock heaves by the Huskies to put the Cavaliers ahead 45-44. After the second Huskies miss, Beekman fed Ryan Dunn for a dunk that only made the arena louder, but the drama was not over.

UP NEXT

Northeastern remains on the road, playing at Central Connecticut State on Tuesday night.

Virginia goes on the road, playing at Memphis on Monday night.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball