Associated Press

ATLANTA — Trey Murphy III scored 18 points, Kihei Clark added 14 and No. 9 Virginia pulled away from Georgia Tech down the stretch for a 57-49 victory on Wednesday night.

The Cavaliers (14-3, 10-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) finished on a 16-5 run. Georgia Tech (9-7, 5-5) led 44-41 with 6:18 remaining, but the Cavaliers dominated the rest of the way.

Clark and Murphy keyed the closing run with big 3-pointers. Virginia missing only one of its final nine shots from the field.

Virginia will host North Carolina on Saturday while Georgia Tech: Will travels to Clemson on Friday night.

Brady-Gronk trophy pass wows boat parade

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Even on the water, it seems the connection on and off the field between Super Bowl champions quarterback Tom Brady and tight end Rob Gronkowski cannot be denied.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers held a boat parade Wednesday to celebrate their championship on a sun-splashed day with thousands of fans lining the Hillsborough River near downtown Tampa.

At one point, Brady was captured on video tossing the NFL’s Lombardi Trophy from his boat across the water to a shirtless Gronkowski in another boat. That brought wild cheers from fans.

Of course, Brady threw two touchdown passes to the player affectionately known as “Gronk” in their 31-9 Super Bowl win over the Kansas City Chiefs. They connected numerous times when both were New England Patriots, and Brady lured Gronk out of retirement to play for the Buccaneers.

As the parade came to a close, head coach Bruce Arians said the Buccaneers could easily repeat as champions.

“We have the best coaching staff in the NFL. And we damn sure have the best players in the NFL,” Arians said. “We’re going to keep the band together.”

Old Dominion tops Charlotte in OT on last-second basket

CHARLOTTE (AP) — Malik Curry made a layup with a second left in overtime to lift Old Dominion to a 78-76 win over Charlotte on Wednesday night.

Jordan Shepherd turned the ball over on the following possession for the 49ers, as a steal by Kalu Ezikpe wrapped up the victory for the Monarchs.

Capping a second half that featured five ties and two lead changes, the Monarchs’ A.J. Oliver II made a layup to even the score at 70 with 37 seconds remaining in regulation and send the game to overtime.

Ezikpe scored a career-high 22 points to lead Old Dominion (10-5, 6-3 Conference USA). He shot 10 for 11 from the field and blocked four shots. Malik Curry added 21 points. Austin Trice had 12

Jahmir Young had 26 points for the 49ers (9-10, 5-6). Jhery Matos added 14 points. Brice Williams had 13 points.

Cork scores 23 to carry Western Carolina past VMI 74-72

CULLOWHEE (AP) — Xavier Cork had a career-high 23 points as Western Carolina edged VMI 74-72 on Wednesday night.

The game was tied at 66 with 1:32 to play. Mason Faulkner scored six of Western Carolina’s last eight points to give the Catamounts a 74-69 lead. Jake Stephens hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer for VMI.

Faulkner had 19 points and six rebounds. Cory Hightower added 13 points and seven rebounds for Western Carolina (9-11, 2-9 Southern Conference).

Kamdyn Curfman had 17 points for the Keydets (10-10, 5-6). Stephens added 17 points and four assists. Greg Parham had 12 points. Sean Conway had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The Catamounts evened the season series against the Keydets with the win. VMI defeated Western Carolina 87-61 on Jan. 27.

Miller scores 22 to lead UNC Greensboro over Furman 64-58

GREENSBORO (AP) — Isaiah Miller had 22 points as UNC Greensboro beat Furman 64-58 on Wednesday.

Keyshaun Langley had 11 points for UNC Greensboro (14-6, 9-3 Southern Conference), which earned its fourth straight home victory.

Clay Mounce had 19 points and 16 rebounds for the Paladins (12-7, 6-4). Mike Bothwell added eight rebounds.

The Spartans evened the season series against the Paladins. Furman defeated UNC Greensboro 68-49 on Monday.

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This was generated by Automated Insights,  http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC,  https://www.stats.com