Virginia wrapped up nonconference play with a hot start and a wire-to-wire 79-44 home victory over Morgan State on Wednesday night in Charlottesville, Va.
Reece Beekman had 17 points and seven assists for the Cavaliers (10-2), who improved to 8-0 at home by shooting 43.5 percent (10 of 23) from 3-point range and committing only five turnovers.
Jacob Groves, Andrew Rohde and Leon Bond III each had 10 points for Virginia, which led by 27 at intermission and was never threatened in the second half. Ryan Dunn had eight points and 10 rebounds.
The Bears (4-11) lost their third straight game and fell to 0-7 in road contests. Morgan State’s previous scoring low this season came in a 93-50 loss at BYU on Nov. 18.
Rob Lawson scored 14 points and Kamron Hobbs had 13 to lead the Bears, who turned the ball over 19 times and finished on the wrong side of a 22-6 discrepancy in points off turnovers. They shot 34.1 percent from the field.
Morgan State scored the first eight points of the second half to whittle its deficit to 43-24.
A pair of 3-pointers by Isaac McKneely got Virginia going again and the lead was 56-30 with 12:11 left.
The Bears trailed by at least 20 points for the remainder of the night.
Virginia of the Atlantic Coast Conference improved to 5-0 vs. Morgan State of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
The Cavaliers grabbed their first double-digit lead at 17-7 on Groves’ 3-pointer at the 10:41 mark.
A 24-3 run capped with Bond’s layup pushed their advantage to 41-13 with 48 seconds left.
The Bears only made two field goals in the last nine-plus minutes of the first half and trailed 43-16 at the break.
Morgan State’s leading scorer Wynston Tabbs (16.4 points per game) missed his fourth straight game. The double-transfer (Boston College, East Carolina) has been plagued throughout his career by knee injuries.
Virginia returns to ACC action Saturday at Notre Dame. Morgan State plays at NJIT on Sunday.
–Field Level Media