After playing three evening games, a noon start did nothing to slow down the Virginia basketball team's high-scoring start to the season. In fact, the Cavaliers cracked the century mark with a 104-78 win against Marshall on Saturday at the John Paul Jones Arena.
UVA has scored at least 80 points in all four games this season. This is the first time since 2006 (Arizona, Morgan State, UNC Asheville, and Maryland Eastern Shore) that the Hoos have opened the year with four straight games of 80+ points. Perhaps some payback for a 103-98 loss to Marshall in 1954, Virginia has scored 100 points in each of the last two meetings between the programs. Grant Kersey tipped the scale on Dec. 31, 2018 when the Hoos last scored 100 points, a 100-64 victory against Marshall.
With the win, Ryan Odom has opened his tenure with a 4-0 record. The only other UVA coach with a 4-0 start in program history was Henry Lannigan all the way back in 1905-06.
"Pleased with the win tonight. We have a ton of respect for Marshall," Odom said. "Going into this game, we knew it was going to be a challenge because they're so different from the teams that we had just played, just stylistically a lot different. I thought the first half our guys just did an amazing job of setting our defense, of running quality offense, really sharing the basketball, taking care of the basketball, and truly played well overall."
Indeed, a strong first half fueled the victory against Marshall. Virginia erupted for 61 points before halftime thanks to 62.5% shooting (20-32). That's the most UVA has ever scored in a half at the JPJ. That helped the Hoos build a 61-33 lead. In the second half, the hosts' shooting leveled out considerably as they fell to 41.9% (13-31). For the game, they finished at 52.4% (33-63). Virginia made 42.9% of its 3-pointers (12-28) and 72.2% of its free throws (26-36).
With the drop in shooting percentage, Marshall kept competing and won the second half 45-43. Much of that came at the free throw line where the visitors made 15 of 18 after intermission. Odom credited the Thundering Herd for extending their defense in the second half, but he was visibly and audibly challenging his team in the second half. That included a timeout just ahead of the under-8 media timeout when the players on the floor were slow to react to an inbounds play call.
"You have to have the combination of offense and defense to be at your best and certainly our guys did a nice job in the first half. When we got away from that in the second half, you can see how it can impact you overall," Odom said. "I thought our shot selection wasn't great, we weren't getting as clean of looks as we wanted to in the middle portion of that half. You gotta credit Marshall, they did a good job of getting out on us and putting a little bit more pressure on us and it impacted our defense. You have to have both throughout. But I thought our guys did a nice job of righting the ship there and finishing in a positive way."
Here are more takeaways from another big win at John Paul Jones Arena.
Thomas, Hall Get Going
One strength during UVA's fast start to the season: multiple players can go for big numbers in any given game. This week's two contests were a prime example of that. On Tuesday night, Ugonna Onyenso (18) and Chance Mallory (16) led the way. A few days later, four different players put up a big number in the scoring column.
Thijs De Ridder led the way with 23 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Both Malik Thomas and Dallin Hall added 18 points, while Johann Grünloh posted 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots. Sam Lewis and Jacari White added 9 and 8 points, respectively. Mallory had 5 points, 5 assists, and 3 steals. Onyenso chipped in 5 points and 2 steals.
For seniors Thomas and Hall, they've had big scoring days before but this marked their best to date as Cavaliers. Thomas had some monster scoring days at San Francisco last season and he put up double figures twice this season prior to the Marshall game. He had not found a consistent touch on his shooting, though, as he made 1 of 10, 5 of 12, and 2 of 5 attempts in the season's first three games.
Thomas had no problem with that Saturday. He sparked Virginia to an early 21-6 lead by making his first 5 shots with 3 3-pointers in the mix. Those 13 points helped UVA take a double-digit lead that never wavered. Thomas eventually finished 7-of-9 shooting (4 of 5 3's) and added 5 rebounds as well.
"I was just being aggressive, got a quick bucket with the offensive rebound, but it started on the defensive end for me," Thomas said. "Just making sure, coaches always talk about dog the ball so I just harp on defense and then the offense really takes care of itself. I'm going to have nights where I go have a hot streak, there's going to be nights where I'm missing shots. You've just got to stay the course and focus on what we've got to focus on to win the game."
Hall had a similarly efficient outing. He made 5 of 6 shots overall (3 of 4 3's) and 5 of 6 free throws too to get his season-high 18 points. Prior to the Marshall game, Hall had attempted just 14 total shots this season (3 makes) and had yet to be to the free throw line.
Hall spent a lot of the first three games distributing the ball and making sure a roster full of new players with new coaches settled in with their plans. he handed out 19 assists in those games with 7 in back-to-back games. That part didn't slip against the Herd as he still dished 3 assists in the win.
"I'll start it off by saying he's the leader of assisting us and making sure everybody's in order," Thomas said. "He did a great job of just staying aggressive. When Dallin looks for his shot, that opens up everything else and that opens up getting dump downs to Johann and Thijs and kickouts to me so when teams disrespect his scoring ability, he'll make 'em pay like he did tonight."
UVA Frontcourt Still Delivered
Marshall presented a unique challenge for the Wahoos this season. That's because 7'4", 255-pound center Matt Van Komen threatens the rim on both sides of the court. Offensively, he's shooting 84.0% on the season, a number that includes a 5-6 shooting performance on the way to 13 points Saturday. He can tip in shots, catch lobs, or get a touch on the blocks. Defensively, he has 12 blocked shots (just 1 vs. UVA) and can bother other attempts too.
The Virginia starting duo of De Ridder and Grünloh met the challenge.
De Ridder poured in a game-high 23 points on 8-17 shooting. He made 6 of 9 free throws to help his total. It's the third time De Ridder reached 20 points this season. He had 21 against Rider and 20 against North Carolina Central before setting his new career high at UVA on Saturday. In the first half, in particular, De Ridder flashed some of his versatility with shots going toward the rim and at least one bucket in the middle during Marshall's brief flip to zone defense.
Grünloh tallied 16 points as he made 6 of 11 shots. That included a strong first half where he made 4 of 6 attempts. Like De Ridder, Thomas, and Hall, that set his high total for the season. He did leave some points on the table in the second half when he made just 2 of 5 free throws (3-7 for the game). Defensively, Grünloh continues to be a rim protector. With 3 blocks Saturday, he has started the season with 3+ in each game and now has 17 on the season.
"They're all three really good players," "Thijs is physical and can get to the basket and has the touch on some of his passing in pick-and-roll and just in general Johann, you saw him tonight, he can make a shot behind the arc. ... He's a good shooter and we're confident in him. He can catch around the rim and put it in. He's really good at protecting our basket. Then Ugo is very similar in that regard. He protects the rim, he can stretch you a little bit, and just really overall helps our flow."
Tougher Than Expected
Virginia forced 15 turnovers - part of the cumulative effect, perhaps, of pressuring the ball fullcourt the whole game - and won the rebounding battle 38-35. On offense, the Hoos doubled up assists vs. turnovers with 18 assists and only 9 turnovers.
Marshall coach Cornelius Jackson had watched all of the Cavaliers' games this season. He knew the Hoos would play fast, pressure defensively, and share the ball. What impressed him more in person was the physical test Virginia presented, something he challenged his team on in the first timeout of the game and something he thinks will help his team in the Sun Belt Conference.
"To be honest with you after watching these guys and watching every game they played this year, I under-estimated their physicality," Jackson said. "I really did. I knew that they were going to play pressure defense in your face all night, but I didn't know that they were going to be as physical as they were."
UVA will travel away from the JPJ for the first time in the regular season next week and try to take that trait with it. The Hoos play at the Greenbrier Tip-Off Classic on Friday and Sunday next weekend with games against Northwestern and Butler. Virginia faced Vanderbilt on the road and Villanova at home in exhibition games, but those two contests against teams from the Big Ten and Big East will be the first to count in the standings and could have implications down the road when it comes time to think about the postseason.
While the Wahoos have piled up points and won by at least 18 points in each of their four home games to date, there are areas to improve too. Things on the list could include second half play (Marshall won the second half Saturday, while North Carolina Central stayed close at 39-37 in an earlier game), ball screen defense, and defending without fouling. Marshall's Landen Joseph posted a big scoring number with 22 points on 8-11 shooting to lead his team. He's the fourth guard to have at least 16 points with a solid shooting line.
Odom said there is still plenty to work to do at this early stage of the season
"We're going to have ebbs and flows. You're not going to play perfect basketball," Odom said. "Our goal right now is just to continue to try to get better every practice, every shoot-around, every game, every film session - to just improve and try to get the guys playing to their full potential. It's still really early in the season. We're only four games in so by no means are where we need to be right now. We're excited about where we're at, but we need to get a lot better."
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