Archiv » led to start the seventh before Jason Heyward drew

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Its been a season of firsts for No. 6 Virginia. The Cavaliers are savoring their latest one by sticking around the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament a little while longer than usual. Virginia advanced to the ACC semifinals for the first time since 1995 by pulling away to beat Florida State 64-51 in a quarterfinal Friday. Joe Harris matched a season high with 20 points and Anthony Gill added 16 for the top-seeded Cavaliers (26-6). They shot 48 per cent, forced 15 turnovers and earned their third double-digit victory over the Seminoles this season while winning their 14th in 15 games. "We really just wanted to go out there and prove to everybody that we deserve to be here, we deserve the No. 1 seed," Gill said. Okaro White scored 17 points and Aaron Thomas added 13 for the ninth-seeded Seminoles (19-13). They shot 43 per cent against one of the nations best defences but couldnt keep the Cavaliers off the boards when it counted most, and were denied their third victory over a top-seeded team since 2009. A victory would have gone a long way toward propelling them back into the NCAA tournament. Instead, the Seminoles can only sweat it out until selection Sunday. "Our record speaks for us to be on the bubble, but I think were a great team," White said. "We had a tough time throughout the course of the season, but I think weve shown everyone were a team that should be out there. I think were a team thats up to the level of a lot of the teams that are going to be in the NCAA tournament, but its hard." Virginia established a 31-25 rebounding advantage -- 21-13 in the second half -- and finished with 17 second-chance points. "We talk about outlasting people all the time," freshman London Perrantes said. "We know that nobodys going to want to guard us 35 seconds every time down the court, so we know that if we keep running our offence, theyre going to get frustrated and were going to get good shots." White pulled Florida State to 61-49 with his jumper through contact with 3:25 left. But he missed the free throw and the Seminoles didnt hit another field goal the rest of the way. Virginia will face fifth-seeded Pittsburgh, which beat No. 15 North Carolina 80-75, on Saturday in the first semifinal. Thats unfamiliar territory for a Cavaliers program that hadnt reached the semifinals in nearly two decades -- the longest drought in the conference. In matching a league record with 16 conference victories, Virginia earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament for just the second time and first since 1981. The Cavaliers only tournament title came in 1976 and until Friday they had won only four ACC tournament games since that last semifinal appearance -- and none since 2010. "Weve done a lot of things that we havent done for years," Perrantes said. "So for this to happen for us now is definitely a relieving experience." They led for all but about eight minutes of this one and were in control throughout -- even if it took a while for the scoreboard to finally reflect that. "Its very hard to come back on a team like Virginia when theyre coming down and using 30 seconds of the shot clock," White said. "You cant get down on them." Harris, who matched the season high of 20 points against Hampton on Nov. 26, was 7 of 12 and hit at least half of his shots for the first time since a win against Maryland on Feb. 10. "He has a good feel when to let it come and when to be assertive," ACC coach of the year Tony Bennett said. "He senses. He doesnt get it right all of the time (but) he senses when something is required of him." Virginia pushed its lead into double figures for the first time on Gills free throw with 13:57 left that made it 43-33. Harris bounced in a 3-pointer four possessions later to make it 48-37, Darion Atkins followed that with a jumper and then hit two free throws to make it a 15-point game with 9:51 remaining. Ian Miller finished with 10 points for the Seminoles. Kanken Mini Backpack Graphite . The Mavericks were not going to let San Antonio beat them with 3-pointers, and they did not want Tony Parker using the lane as his personal playground. Fjallraven Kanken Classic Graphite/Black Backpack . Dumont, a fifth round draft pick of the Canadiens in 2009, has four assists and 20 penalty minutes in 12 games with the Bulldogs this season. The 23-year-old split last season between Hamilton and Montreal, recording 16 goals and 15 assists in 55 regular season games with the Bulldogs. http://www.cheapkankenbackpack.com/cheap-kanken-classic-backpack/kanken-classic-frost-green.html . -- Hee Young Park topped the leaderboard at 8 under Friday in the suspended second round of the Kingsmill Championship. Fjallraven Kanken Big Backpack Black . -- The Orlando Magic finally are showing the patience in critical moments that coach Jacque Vaughn has been waiting for all season. Fjallraven Kanken No.2 Backpack Black . Inter moved five points behind fourth-place Fiorentina and eight points behind third-place Napoli, which visits relegation-threatened Sassuolo on Sunday.HOUSTON -- The Houston Astros had solid pitching but couldnt get their offence going in the first two games against Atlanta. On Thursday, they finally put together a complete game and won 6-1 to avoid a series sweep. Matt Dominguez broke out of a slump with a three-run home run and rookie George Springer also homered to back up seven strong innings by Jarred Cosart. Dominguez snapped an 0-for-23 skid with his two-out shot to left-centre field off Mike Minor (2-5) that made it 5-1 in the fifth inning. "Thats the big hit that when we were in this here funk that we were in, that was the big hit that had been eluding us," manager Bo Porter said. Dominguez said there was a mixture of relief and excitement when he connected on his home run. "I try not to focus on it but of course it gets in your head," Dominguez said. "Good situation. Got a good pitch to hit and I was finally able to put the barrel on it." Cosart (8-5) allowed six hits and a run for his fourth straight victory. Porter believes that Cosarts presence on the mound has improved with each start this season and the 24-year-old agreed. "When Im throwing strikes I have a lot more confidence and obviously thats what theyve been preaching," Cosart said. "And with the mechanical stuff Ive been doing I have a lot more confidence in throwing strikes and just being able to trust my stuff and attack the hitters and know Ive got a really good defence behind me thats going to make a lot of plays for me." Springers solo homer off Juan Jaime in the seventh pushed the lead to 6-1. He has 15 homers this season, the most by a rookie in franchise history before the All-Star Break. Lance Berkman had the previous mark with 12 in 2000. Minor gave up seven hits and five runs in six innings to remain winless since May 19. Jon Singleton had two hits and an RBI and Jose Altuve added a pair of hits and swiped two bases ffor the Astros, who had managed just four runs combined and had been shut out twice in a four-game losing streak.dddddddddddd. Altuve leads the American League with 107 hits and 30 steals. Justin Upton had two hits on Thursday and hit .364 with two homers and four RBIs in the series and B.J. Upton had a hit and scored Atlantas only run. "Things just didnt go our way," Justin Upton said. "For the most part we tried to play a little small ball with our run-scoring struggles and weve done a pretty good job of it. (Thursday) it didnt work out for us and we didnt get the big ball, either." The Braves had trouble stringing together hits against Cosart and he was helped by the Astros turning a pair of double plays. Evan Gattis doubled to start the seventh before Jason Heyward drew a walk, but Cosart retired the next three batters to end the threat. B.J. Upton hit a leadoff single before stealing second and taking third on an error on the throw by Jason Castro. The Braves went up 1-0 when he scored on a sacrifice fly by Tony La Stella. Altuve singled and a double by Singleton, which bounced off the wall in left field, sent him home to tie it at 1-1 in the first. Minor plunked Dominguez to start Houstons fourth before a double by Castro. The Astros took a 2-1 lead when Castro scored on a groundout by Jesus Guzman. NOTES: The Astros opened their gates 30 minutes early Thursday to allow fans to watch the World Cup match between the United States and Germany on the stadiums big screens. ... Atlanta 1B Freddie Freeman was back in the lineup after leaving Wednesday nights game in the eighth inning after being hit by a pitch on the right elbow. ... Houston selected the contract of RHP Jose Veras from Triple-A Oklahoma City and outrighted RHP Kyle Farnsworth before the game and he has elected free agency. Veras struck out Justin Upton for the last out of the game. ' ' '