PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- When Donnie McGrath saw a hole, he pounced.
The junior guard peeped nine in Virginia's zone defense last night, and he made the Cavaliers pay for every one.
McGrath scored 27 points on nine for nine shooting from beyond the arc to lead his Providence Friars past Virginia, 98-79, at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence.
"Shooting nine for nine is tough to do when no one's in the gym," Virginia coach Pete Gillen said.
McGrath had Virginia's zone defense to thank for his performance, which tied an NCAA record for three-point percentage in a game.
"I think we attacked the zone pretty well," McGrath said. "Usually with zones, if you pick them apart the right way, then you're going to get some threes."
The Friars (10-11) ravaged Virginia's zone, giving coach Pete Gillen a reason to gripe.
"We weren't aggressive enough in the zone," Gillen said. "We have to contest it better. We've got to have pride in defending people."
Providence took a one-point lead into the half, but the Cavaliers allowed the Friars 58 second-half points on 72 percent shooting.
Devin Smith led Virginia with 22 points, but shot only 8-19 from the field. J.R. Reynolds knocked in 15 points on 4-14 shooting, and Elton Brown went 4-11 for 11 points.
As a team, the Cavaliers shot 41 percent on the game, 38 percent in the second half.
The 6-9 center Brown added five rebounds. The Cavaliers were out-rebounded 40-27.
Providence All-American Ryan Gomes broke open the game in the second half with 13 points in the first seven minutes. McGrath added two triples to give the Friars a 10-point lead with just over 11 minutes remaining.
Virginia freshman Sean Singletary then took the ball the length of the court in two consecutive possessions, scoring in the first and assisting to Gary Forbes in the second, to start a 9-2 run.
With 7:49 left in the second half, Virginia had cut the gap to three, 68-65. Then McGrath struck again.
In a span of 17 seconds, McGrath converted on his seventh and eighth 3-pointers of the game, sparking a 30-14 game-ending run by Providence.
Gomes finished with 20 points on 8-12 shooting, sophomore guard Dwight Brewington added 17 points and senior forward Tuukka Kotti 15 for the Friars.
With the loss, the Cavaliers (10-9) inched one game closer to .500 with eight games remaining. Virginia has lost its last three and seven of its last eight.
Despite the string of losses, Singletary doesn't think the Cavaliers are developing a here-we-go-again mentality.
"I just think we need to fight back with some transition buckets," he said. "We can't just give up, we've got to fight."
Notes: Virginia freshman forward Adrian Joseph is out indefinitely after tearing his right quadriceps during practice Monday
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