Gill, No. 8 Virginia Outlast No. 12 Villanova 86-75

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Anthony Gill scored 22 points and London Perrantes scored 15 of his 19 in the second half Saturday and No. 8 Virginia held off No. 12 Villanova 86-75 for its eighth consecutive victory.

Malcolm Brogdon also finished with 20 points for Virginia (9-1), including a pair of free throws with 44.6 seconds left. Virginia led by as many as 13, but the Wildcats closed within four twice in the final minutes.

Kris Jenkins scored 23 points, getting 19 in the second half, and Daniel Ochefu had 13 before fouling out late in the physical marquee matchup for Villanova (8-2).

The Wildcats made 10 3-pointers and shot 49 percent, but allowed the Cavaliers to convert on 56.5 percent overall. Virginia also hit 26 of 30 free-throw attempts.

The Cavaliers trailed 43-41 and had only made one 3-pointer when Brogdon made one with 12:03 to play.

While Villanova missed its next seven shots, Perrantes added another 3-pointer for Virginia, and then a conventional three-point play, giving Virginia nine points in a span of 1:19. Two free throws by Brogdon and then another 3-pointer by Devin Hall finished a 14-0 burst, giving the Cavaliers their largest lead at 55-43 with 9:11 left.

It also brought the crowd at John Paul Jones Arena to its feet, celebrating the play at both ends.

Jenkins scored 13 points over the next 4 1/2 minutes as the Wildcats closed within four, but Perrantes' third 3-pointer of the half, an inside basket by Gill and Brogdon's 3-pointer pushed the lead back to 76-66 with 1:55 to play, and the Cavaliers made their free throws in the closing minutes to hang on for the win.

Virginia led 33-29 after a first half marked by good defense, good shooting and sloppy ball-handling.

SHARING THE BALL:

Five different Wildcats scored in a 10-2 first-half run that gave them an 18-14 lead.

A short time later, five different Cavaliers scored in an 11-0 run that opened a 27-20 lead.

TIP INS:

Villanova: The Wildcats entered the game averaging 31.1 3-point attempts, and 9.4 made 3-pointers, or just 30.4 percent. More than half of their field goal attempts in their first nine games came from beyond the 3-point line. ... Averaging 9.7 turnovers, the Wildcats had eight by halftime.

Virginia: Virginia, which beat No. 20 West Virginia 70-54 in its previous outing on Dec. 8, was playing consecutive ranked teams in nonconference play for the first time since Nov. 26-27 and Dec. 4, 2002, when it faced No. 15 Kentucky, No. 19 Indiana and No. 21 Michigan State. ... Virginia had eight first-half turnovers. It came into the game averaging 8.7 per game. They surpassed their average by throwing it away on their first possession of the second half.

UP NEXT:

Villanova will host Delaware in its annual alumni night on Tuesday.

Virginia continues a four-game homestand with a game against California on Tuesday night.

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