BOSTON -- Even though his No. 16 Cavaliers were No. 1 in the nation defensively coming in, Virginia coach Tony Bennett wanted to see improvement in his team's defense at Boston College on Wednesday night.

He got it.

"I thought we were better defensively -- still have room for improvement but we were a little more active and swarming," Bennett said after his team cruised to a 71-54 ACC victory over the Eagles. "... There hasn't been a lot of pride in our defense the last few games; we've been struggling a little bit."

The Cavaliers were coming off back-to-back wins but allowed 62 points against Wake Forest and 73 at Clemson, the latter the second-highest total they'd allowed all season. Those two games still left them at 53.4 points per game allowed -- and this is a team that has held five teams to 41 or fewer and also became the first ACC team ever to hold three straight opponents to fewer than 40.

Coming into this game, Bennett knew his team had to stop Jerome Robinson and Ky Bowman, BC's 1-2 punch.

"Those are good players for sure -- young good players," Bennett said of the underclassmen.

But Wednesday, the pair combined for 16 points, many of those coming with Virginia (14-3, 4-2 ACC) in control. They combined to go 7 for 20 from the floor and 1 for 7 from 3-point range.

Robinson, who came in third in the ACC in scoring at 20.3 points per game, was 4 for 14 and had his second straight nine-point game. He was 3 for 11 at Syracuse and went 1 for 8 from 3-point range in the two games.

"He got hurt a little bit tonight. He got hit in the jaw (in the first half); he was complaining about his vision," Christian said. "I'm not making any excuse for him. I was more concerned with his defense.

"He'll come out of it. He's a good player."

The BC coach was also concerned about his team's overall effort, saying, "I didn't think that we came out to play Virginia, a ranked team, with the energy and emotion that you need to play them."

The Cavaliers, who had 22 assists on 27 baskets and turned the ball over only five times, broke an 8-8 tie with a 15-0 run and used a 21-7 second-half burst to put the game away.

Virginia, which came in with only one player averaging double figures in points, used their usual balance. Devon Hall scored 13 points, Isaiah Wilkins had 11 and Darius Thompson 10.

Hall had six assists and Wilkins nine rebounds for Virginia.

"He wants us to stay consistent," Hall said of his coach. We're really deep. Ten guys. You play as hard as possible for every possession you're in because you've got guys coming in who can do the job."

Jordan Chatman came off the bench to lead BC (9-10, 2-4) with a career-high 16 points, 10 in the first half. Connar Tava had 12 points and a season-high 11 rebounds.

Bowman, who scored seven points, added six rebounds and five assists for the Eagles (9-10, 2-4), but he and Robinson each turned the ball over four times.

It took BC 4 1/2 minutes to get its first basket, but two in a row off the bench by Nik Popovic tied the game 8-8. That was when Virginia took over, rattling off 15 over 3:19.

The lead got up to 19, but the Eagles stayed somewhat afloat thanks to 10 points by Chatman in just over three minutes. The Cavs still led by 17 at the break.

Virginia went the first 5:16 without a basket in the second half but then caught fire and put the game away.

NOTES: Virginia coach Tony Bennett notched his 179th win at the school, moving him into a tie with Clemson's Cliff Ellis (1985-94) for 19th place on the ACC wins list. ... BC outrebounded Virginia 36-27 and grabbed nine offensive rebounds, but shot only 38.5 percent. ... Virginia was 12 for 20 from the foul line. ... The Cavaliers host Georgia Tech on Saturday, the same day the Eagles host No. 9 North Carolina.