Ryan Dunn sparks No. 7 Virginia's win over Boston College

Jayden Gardner and Armaan Franklin scored 18 points each and high-flying reserve Ryan Dunn sparked No. 7 Virginia in the first half with two electrifying dunks in a 76-57 victory over Boston College on Saturday in Charlottesville, Va.

Isaac McKneely scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half and Reece Beekman added 11 points and eight assists as Virginia (16-3, 8-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) won its sixth straight.

In a game in which the teams combined to make 23 of 24 free throws, Virginia took the lead midway through the first half and expanded it steadily.

Franklin added seven rebounds and Gardner chipped in with six as the Cavaliers won the battle of the boards 33-25 and shot 50.8 percent compared to 40.8 percent marksmanship for the Eagles.

Quinten Post scored 14 of his 24 points in the first six minutes for Boston College (10-12, 4-7), which saw the end of its two-game winning streak.

Makai Ashton-Langford tallied 12 points for the Eagles. His younger brother, DeMarr Langford Jr., sustained a knee injury and sat out the second half.

Gardner scored eight of his points in the first five minutes of the second half to help boost Virginia's lead to 50-36.

Midway through the half Franklin had a dunk and a 3-pointer to trigger a nine-point run as the Cavaliers pushed their advantage to 61-43.

McKneely made a pair of 3-pointers in the final eight minutes as Virginia stretched its lead to 27 points.

After Post's early splurge, Mason Madsen hit a 3-pointer to give Boston College its biggest lead of the game 21-17. But Virginia responded with a nine-point run to take the lead for good.

Dunn, a freshman who has recently seen an uptick in minutes, highlighted the run with a putback dunk and an alley-oop slam sandwiched around a 3-pointer by Franklin.

Another 9-0 run, which included five points by Franklin, propelled the Cavaliers to a 35-27 lead at the break.