Cavaliers Silence the Storm, Head to ACC Finale

The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Men's Basketball Tournament Semifinals began with the 2nd-seeded Virginia Cavaliers (28-4 overall, 15-3 ACC) versus the 3rd-seeded Miami Hurricanes (25-7 overall, 13-5 ACC).

Virginia advanced to this moment as a result of their 81-74 victory over the 7th-seeded N.C. State Wolfpack in the ACC Quarterfinals, and Miami's road to the semis came through the 6th-seeded Louisville Cardinals, whom they defeated 78-73.

It was fitting that the man who slammed down the exclamation point on the Cardinals a game ago was the first to score in this matchup, with freshman forward Shelton Henderson scoring at the rim on a layup at the 19:13 mark to put Miami up 2-0.

Henderson would dunk the ball home to give the Hurricanes a 4-0 lead, but the Cavaliers would respond, going on a 4-0 run to tie the game before the media timeout at the 14:52 mark.

The offensive run would continue for the Cavaliers out of the break, with senior center Ugonna Onyenso giving Virginia their first lead at the 14:26 mark off of a layup.

Senior forward Malik Reneau would tie the game at the charity stripe, at 6-apiece.

Miami junior guard Tru Washington would make a tough take to the rim to tie the game at 8-8 after Onyenso had given the lead back to Virginia at the rim a play before.

Junior guard Sam Lewis would go inside for the Cavaliers to give them a 10-8 lead, breaking the third time of the first half.

Washington would elevate the Hurricanes to a tie at 15-all thanks to his three from the right wing at the 7:49 mark.

Freshman guard Dante Allen would regain the lead on a layup at 6:37 remaining that made it 17-15 Miami. However, Onyenso replied immediately to tie the game and then take the lead on Virginia's next possession, bringing the score to 19-17 Virginia.

Cavaliers' freshman guard Chance Mallory went 2-for-2 at the charity stripe to raise the Cavs to a 21-17 lead at the 4:35 mark.

Two more free throws by Mallory would give Virginia an 8-0 run, bringing the score to 23-17 Cavs.

Henderson would end the scoring drought for Miami that lasted over three minutes (6:37 to 3:19) on a jumper that brought the game to a 23-19 score.

However, the Cavaliers were not slowly down, responding to the Hurricanes with a storm of their own, extending out to a 30-21 advantage with 1:57 to go before halftime.

Graduate guard Malik Thomas' deep make at the 1:23 mark gave Virginia their first double-digit lead of the night, ahead 33-21.

Miami gave Onyenso the baseline and he made them pay, rocking the rim.

Adding onto that, Mallory would steal the ball from Hurricanes' senior guard Tre Donaldson and fire away a jump shot to beat the first-half buzzer, giving the Cavaliers their largest lead of the opening 20 minutes, up 38-23 at the break.

Virginia will only pour it on more in the second half, with Miami getting no closer than an 11-point deficit.

The final 4:06 of the game featured the Cavaliers leading by at least 20 points en route to an 84-62 victory that places them in the 2026 ACC Tournament finale on Saturday, March 14, at 8:30pmET on ESPN.

Onyenso led all Virginia players with 17, followed by freshman forward Thijs De Ridder and Lewis each with 16 and Thomas with 15.

Only two players ended this game in double-figures for Miami: Washington with 13 and Henderson with 12.