Kihei Clark scored 15 points and became the all-time assist leader for No. 7 Virginia, which recorded a 57-55 victory over visiting Notre Dame on Saturday in Charlottesville, Va.
Armaan Franklin had 12 points and Reece Beekman emerged from a slump to collect 11 points and five assists as Virginia (21-4, 13-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) won its fourth straight game.
The Cavaliers improved to 8-0 against the Irish in Charlottesville and held serve after opening the day tied for first place in the league with Pitt.
The Cavaliers celebrated with confetti early in the second half when Clark dished to Jayden Gardner (eight points) for a basket as he passed the mark of 683 assists established by John Crotty, who played from 1987-91. Clark had four assists to give him 685 in his career.
Clark made two free throws with 22 seconds left. After Notre Dame’s Dane Goodwin (12 points) missed a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left, Gardner missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw.
Trey Wertz then made the first of two free throws for the Irish with three seconds left. He missed the second but got the rebound and passed to Goodwin, who missed an open look at the buzzer.
Nate Laszewski led Notre Dame (10-17, 2-14) with 18 points and eight rebounds. Marcus Hammond added 10 points for the Irish, who lost their fifth straight game.
The Irish trailed 53-45 when Ben Vander Plas made a 3-pointer with 6:09 left. But a 3-pointer by Laszewski cued a comeback by Notre Dame.
In the first half, Virginia took the lead early and increased it to nine points at 24-15 as Notre Dame had a 6:28 stretch without a field goal as it committed three turnovers and missed six shots.
But the Irish went on a 13-2 run which bridged halftime. Cormac Ryan triggered it with a 3-pointer and Laszewski added six points as Notre Dame grabbed a 31-29 lead two minutes into the second half.
–Field Level Media