CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Four curtain calls were one too many for Virginia point guard Sean Singletary and the Cavaliers.

Singletary's fourth farewell proved to be the last Wednesday as Bradley defeated UVa 96-85 before a crowd of 5,852 at John Paul Jones Arena.

Singletary celebrated his Senior Night on March 9 but his season was extended when the Cavaliers accepted an invitation to the College Basketball Invitational and subsequently were awarded three home games.

Singletary's late-game heroics saved UVa on Monday night in an 80-76 victory over Old Dominion, but, this time by the time he found his shooting touch, it was too late.

"Our lifeline ran out, basically," said Singletary, referring to UVa's comebacks from double-digit deficits against Richmond and ODU.

Singletary had 17 points and eight assists Wednesday but needed to make his last three shots from the field to finish 7-for-18.

"I was off," Singletary said. "Just couldn't get anything to go. Tried to get to the basket but really couldn't get anything to go at all."

The Cavaliers (17-16) squandered a season-high 26 points from freshman Jeff Jones, who connected on six of his eight 3-point attempts.

"It's hard to feel good about it when you know that Sean went out with a loss," said Jones, who shares Singletary's Philadelphia roots.

Virginia jumped out to a 30-16 lead with 8:50 remaining in the first half but had little time to enjoy it as the Braves (20-15) went on a 15-0 run. The score was tied at the half and it was 58-58 with 11:50 left, following a 3-pointer by the Cavaliers' Adrian Joseph.

This time, Bradley came at the Cavaliers with a 15-2 run, including one possession when the Braves were credited with two offensive rebounds and may have had three or four before 6-foot freshman Sam Maniscalo connected.

Opponents have been killing Virginia with stickbacks and it was just the latest in a series of dismal defensive displays by the Cavaliers. Bradley shot 56.7 percent from the field in a 54-point second half.

Bradley's Jeremy Crouch, a 6-foot-5 senior, missed all seven of his 3-point attempts in the first half and then went 5-for-5 from beyond the arc to start the second half. He finished with a game-high 27 points.

"I went in [at the half] and washed my hands and just let it all go," said Crouch, who came into the game with 106 3-point field goals for the season. "I just wasn't shooting very well, so I wanted to clean it all off and start fresh."

Crouch said that handwashing isn't part of his normal halftime routine, "but it will be now," coach Jim Les said.

The Braves averaged more than nine 3-point field goals during their first 34 games and didn't stop shooting when they opened the game 0-for-6. They were 6-for-12 on 3-pointers in the second half and 11-for-31 for the game.

"Virginia did a lot of switching and we had some 'bigs' on us," said Crouch, who had more maneuverability in those switchings. "This offense is so much fun to play in and it's a match-up nightmare for some teams."

In UVa coach Dave Leitao's estimation, schemes were secondary.

"The reality of it is, if you look at the statistics, any offense has given us trouble," Leitao said. "Somewhere along the line, our defensive attitude and presence has not been there with any level of consistency."

Bradley, which had been outrebounded for the season, had a 43-38 advantage on the boards Wednesday.

"I put it all into one package," Leitao said. "Rebounding is the same thing as defense. It's an attitude. We've got to reclaim that attitude. When we've needed a stretch or a stop, we haven't been able to get it with any consistency."

Virginia scored 22 points in the final 4:42, obscuring the fact that it had failed to score on six straight possessions earlier in the second half.

Leitao removed Singletary for the last time with 48 seconds remaining and the crowd gave him one last standing ovation. There were no tears on his part.

"I told you before," he said. "I cried during the season after all those losses."