Virginia Cavaliers vs Massachusetts Minutemen Box Score on Nov 23, 2019

Braxton Key scored 16 points to lead No. 7 Virginia to a 58-46 win against Massachusetts on Saturday in the semifinals of the Air Force Reserve Tip-Off Tournament at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.

The Cavaliers (5-0) will face Arizona State in the final on Sunday. Virginia has captured championships in each of its past six November tournaments.

The Minutemen (5-1), who were off to their best start since opening 10-0 in 2013-14, will meet the Red Storm in Sunday's consolation game.

Kihei Clark added 14 points and Jay Huff scored 10 for the defending national champion Cavaliers, who never trailed.

Carl Pierre scored 14 to lead the Minutemen, and T.J. Weeks added 12 off the bench. Tre Mitchell had 10 points, all in the first half.

UMass overcame a 16-point first-half deficit and twice got within three points early in the second half, only for Clark to answer for Virginia with layups both times.

Mamadi Diakite, who entered as Virginia's leading scorer with 15.8 points per game, scored his first basket with 12:27 left in the game to put the Cavaliers up 39-31. He finished with four points.

Virginia extended it to 45-31 with four straight free throws by Clark, two of them after a technical foul against UMass coach Matt McCall with 8:51 to play.

The Cavaliers matched their biggest lead at 49-33 on Key's layup with 4:53 left.

The Minutemen entered the game averaging 78.4 points on 50.0 percent shooting, including 43.0 percent from 3-point range. They shot just 30.0 percent (15 of 50) overall and 19.2 percent (5 of 26) from deep.

Virginia improved to 91-2 when holding opponents to fewer than 50 points under coach Tony Bennett, including 4-0 this season.

Key scored 11 in the first half. The Cavaliers took their first 16-point lead at 29-13, capping a 10-0 run with Casey Morsell's 3-pointer with 3:34 remaining

Two free throws by Samba Diallo with 3:12 left ended the Minutemen's five-minute scoring drought and ignited an 11-0 spurt to end the first half, cutting the Cavaliers' lead to 29-24. Mitchell scored the final six points.

Diakite picked up two quick fouls for Virginia and played only three minutes in the first half. The Cavaliers shot 46.4 percent (13 of 28) and held UMass to 2-of-10 shooting from behind the arc before halftime.

--Field Level Media