Virginia becomes 1st unranked ACC team to win in Cards’ arena
The Cavaliers are the first unranked ACC team to win in the KFC Yum! Center since it opened, ending a streak of 56 straight victories for the Cardinals.
Louisville, down 32-26 at halftime, scored 28 points in the third quarter to take a 54-47 lead into the fourth. The Cardinals led 60-51 with 7½ minutes to go when Jillian Brown hit a 3-pointer, starting a Virginia 15-1 run. Johnson capped it with a 3-pointer and layup that made it 66-61 with 2:57 remaining.
Jayda Curry pulled Louisville within 68-65 with 1:12 to play. Both teams missed on their next possession before Paris Clark made two free throws for the Cavaliers with 23 seconds left. Johnson wrapped it up, making 3 of 4 at the line after Cardinals misses.
Johnson finished with 18 points for Virginia (14-13, 6-10), which got its third Top 25 win. Clark had 12 points and Brown 11.
Nyla Harris had 17 points and nine rebounds for Louisville (22-7, 11-5). Sydney Taylor had 15 points, and Kiki Jefferson added 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Louisville is home Thursday against Florida State and closes the regular season Sunday at No. 19 Notre Dame. Virginia goes to Duke on Thursday before playing host to No. 8 Virginia Tech in Sunday’s finale.