After spending much of last week on the road, the Virginia basketball team returned to John Paul Jones Arena to take on the University of Maryland Eastern Shore on Tuesday night. If the Cavaliers were tired from the travel, it didn't show from an offensive standpoint. Ryan Odom's squad continued its winning ways, notching a 84-60 win over the Hawks to improve to 9-1 on the season.
UVA shot 48.4% from the floor, made 13 3-pointers, logged 16 assists with only 7 turnovers, and led by double figures for the final 32 minutes.
Despite the one-sided nature of the game, Odom suggested there was still significant room for improvement.
"Proud of the guys for their effort tonight," Odom said. "Certainly was not our best game overall."
Unlike marquee matchups against Texas and Dayton, this game was never expected to be close. UVA closed as a 37.5-point favorite over the Hawks. Ken Pomeroy's model gave the Cavaliers a 99% chance of winning the game.
After an initial 7-0 run from the Hoos in the game's opening minutes, the Hawks fought back to tie the game 10-10 at the first media timeout. Over the next 5:34, however, the Cavaliers put the game out of reach with a 23-3 run fueled by hot outside shooting. UVA never trailed and led for nearly 39 of the game’s 40 minutes. It was the ninth time this season Virginia reached at least 80 points. That's the most since the 2018-2019 team hit that mark nine times as well.
With the victory, the Cavaliers have now won four in a row. The team will not be in action again until Dec. 20 with exams taking place around Grounds. That game will be a matchup against another team from the "Old Line State," former ACC rival Maryland. Until then, here are three takeaways from UVA’s victory against Maryland Eastern Shore.
Seeking The Three
During his press conference in Charlotte, Odom reiterated his often-stated desire to "seek the three." His team has certainly received the message.
The first made 2-point basket of the game came at the 12:44 mark on a Sam Lewis layup. At that point, Virginia had already accumulated 5 made 3's. Of the team's 28 shots in the first half, 19 were 3-point attempts.
UVA opened the game with another hot shooting performance, making 10 of its first 14 attempts from beyond the arc.
"It just opens up the paint," Virginia guard Chance Mallory said of the team's shooting. "We're attacking the paint with all these shooters around, they can't really help."
The Cavaliers were not as effective shooting the ball in the second half. After shooting 57.9% from 3-point range in the first half, UVA converted only on 2 of1 2 outside shots in the closing 20 minutes. The 16.7% half pulled the overall total down to 41.9% after the scorching start. In the end, Virginia took 31 3's, the fourth time this season with 30+ long-range attempts, and made 11+ for the seventh time.
"Got off to a good start from 3 in the first half, but second half started missing," Odom said.
This game also saw brought an end to the record-setting streak of 3-point shooting from guard Jacari White. White had knocked down 12 straight 3's to surpass Kyle Guy (11) for the most consecutive 3-pointers made in program history. He hit his final 2 3's against Queens and then was a perfect 10-10 against Texas and Dayton. However, White missed his first 3 Tuesday and made only 1-5 outside shots against UMES, finishing the game with 7 points.
Sam Lewis Fuels Hot Start, Thijs De Ridder Closes
One player who stepped up with White finally missing was junior guard Sam Lewis. Lewis matched his season high with 15 points as he became the sixth different Cavalier to lead the team in scoring through the first 10 games.
Tuesday's production came on 5-8 shooting overall and 2-3 shooting from behind the arc. That included a triple that broke the 10-10 tie and started the big run that gave Virginia a comfortable lead. Lewis led the Cavaliers in minutes played and added 5 rebounds and 2 assists.
His head coach praised his ability to move the ball and find his teammates.
"Sam certainly is in that mindset of hitting the open guy," Odom said.
While Lewis spurred the UVA offense in the first half, one player who was eerily quiet was the team’s leading scorer, Thijs De Ridder. The Belgian forward was in foul trouble during the first half and only scored 3 points.
However, De Ridder came alive in the second half, bringing his usual brand of physicality and ability to finish at the rim. He finished the game with 13 points on 5-9 shooting and collected 6 rebounds.
Odom mentioned that De Ridder was frustrated with his performance at halftime. His teammates picked him up and offered encouragement.
"Sometimes you just have to go hit him a little bit to get him going," Cavalier center Johann Grünloh said. "But when he gets into the game, he's unstoppable."
Chance Mallory Shines In An Uneven Defensive Performance
Entering the contest, UMES played at the slowest adjusted tempo of any team in the country. Odom prepared his team for a glacial pace, but that isn't how the game played out. The Hawks' willingness to attack the Virginia press and take quicker shots seemed to surprise the Cavalier defense.
Maryland-Eastern Shore finished the game with 12 points in transition, nearly matching the Cavaliers' 14 fastbreak points.
"We communicated to the guys it was going to be a slower game, and they played much faster than we were anticipating," Odom said.
Overall, UMES shot 46.4% from the field. One of the reasons for this decent shooting percentage was because of the Hawks' ability to get into the paint and challenge UVA's shot-blockers. Despite having no one on the roster above 6'9", UMES won the battle of the paint, outscoring UVA 36-32 in that category. The Hoos also ended up with their lowest rebounding total of the season with 32.
"They clearly focus on getting the ball inside and had some success doing that," Odom said.
The pair of Cavalier centers still managed to impact the game with their shot-blocking ability. Grünloh finished the game with 4 blocks, while Ugonna Onyenso tallied 3. The two have now combined for 57 blocked shots on the season, fueling UVA's top 5 national ranking in block percentage.
Another bright spot on defense beyond those blocks was the play of freshman guard Chance Mallory. Mallory had 6 steals in the game, one shy of tying the Virginia program record for a game. He managed to force turnovers on back-to-back possessions on inbounds passes in the backcourt in the second half. Mallory added 10 points, 5 assists, and 2 rebounds as well.
"You can see him in the gaps," UMES coach Cleo Hill Jr. said of Mallory. "He's in a defensive stance, hands out, and he has a good feel."
Despite Mallory's play, given the size and skill advantages for Virginia, it is fair to say this wasn't the team's best defensive performance. The Hawks' 46.4% effort is the highest by an opponent at the John Paul Jones Arena so far this season and the third highest allowed in 10 games.
"I think it is those little mistakes that are still missing," Grünloh said. "I think it's communication."
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