The Virginia basketball team hung its 15th win on the board Tuesday night, but this one carried a little different meaning. By defeating No. 20 Louisville 79-70, the No. 16 Cavaliers claimed the program's first victory over a ranked team in more than two years. UVA last defeated a team ranked in the top 25 on Nov. 29, 2023, a 59-47 win against then-No. 14 Texas A&M.
The Hoos have won four straight ACC games to improve to 4-1 in conference play. A trip to SMU is up next on Saturday at noon.
"This was a good basketball game for Virginia, no doubt," Virginia coach Ryan Odom said. "Louisville's excellent. Coach [Pat] Kelsey does an awesome job. They have really good players. They work well together. ... I thought for the most part our guys did a really nice job throughout the night."
The Cavaliers started strong in both halves to help get the job done.
In the first half, UVA jumped on the Cardinals immediately and never trailed in the game. The visitors rattled off a 14-0 start in the first 3:25 and then fended off any Louisville rallies the rest of the night. One of those comeback runs by the Cardinals had trimmed the lead to just 36-32 just 1:37 into the second stanza, but Virginia produced another early-half surge to create separation again. This time, a 10-2 run within the first four minutes of the second half grew the Hoos' lead back to double digits at 46-34.
Beyond that, this victory had a lot of the same characteristics as the first 14 this season. The Hoos presented a balanced scoring attack and dished out 15 assists on 21 made baskets. Overall, the visitors connected on 41.2% of their 3's by making 14 of 34 attempts and that helped fuel the win. Malik Thomas led the way with 19 points and 3 assists, but Johann Grünloh and Sam Lewis also came through in double digits. Grünloh posted 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 blocked shots. Lewis registered 15 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists. Thijs De Ridder chipped in 9 points with 4 rebounds, Chance Mallory had 7 points with 4 assists, and Dallin Hall added 5 points with 4 assists and 12 rebounds.
Odom pointed to his team's transition defense as a key factor too. Louisville did not get credited with any fastbreak points.
"They put so much pressure on you in transition," Odom said. "We were completely worried about getting our defense set and getting back against them."
That effort helped the defense as the Cavaliers logged 9 blocked shots and 4 steals to help keep the Cardinals below their high-scoring ways. Louisville ultimately shot just 34.8% from the floor (24-67) and 26.3% from 3-point range (10-38). In a game between two high volume 3-point teams, that last category played a big part in the outcome.
Louisville coach Pat Kelsey said UVA looked more "desparate" to win, particularly in some key moments.
"Right now overall, you give credit to Virginia," Kelsey said. "Desparation. Championship teams play desparate."
Virginia now owns a 9-3 record at Louisville's Yum Center, continuing the success at a place that UVA fans have lovingly deemed JPJ West. The Hoos are 20-4 vs. the Cardinals since the latter joined the ACC. Here are some takeaways from the latest UVA road win in Louisville.
A Big Start
Virginia took hold of the game right away, much to the disappointment of the Louisville crowd. After missing its first two shots, UVA made five shots in a row to open up a 14-0 lead. While the Cardinals cut the lead in half within four minutes, that jolt out of the gates left the hosts playing catch-up for the rest of the night.
That opening salvo included buckets from Johann Grünloh, Sam Lewis, and Ugonna Onyenso. Lewis made a triple and a short jumpshot as part of the 14-0 run, but it was really the UVA frontcourt that helped get things going quickly. Grünloh made a pair of 3-pointers, the first to open the scoring, and Onyenso canned one as well to provide 9 of the 14 points. Louisville guard Isaac McKneely, who led his team with 23 points, said the scouting report noted that UVA's bigs could and would shoot the 3, but that there was some willingness to trade that vs. other possibilities. That pick-your-poison choice ended up costly thanks to the early 3's.
"Clearly the start really helped us," Odom said. "When you're on the road in a hostile environment in a great place like Louisville, getting off to a good start is imperitive and we got off to a good start on both sides of the ball."
Grünloh and Onyenso had something to do with the defensive end too. Grünloh tallied 4 blocked shots, while Onyenso had 3. Nearly half of those swats came in the first seven minutes of the game as the duo combined for 3 blocks by the 13:49 mark of the first half. They bothered many others as well. Louisville started the game on 0-7 shooting run.
In the end, Grünloh matched his career high with 16 points on 4-8 shooting. That included another trey later in the game as he went 3-4 from distance. Grünloh also knocked down 5 of 6 free throws. This marked his second double-figure scoring effort in ACC play after he put up 12 in the win against Califpornia. Onyenso did not score again after his early 3-pointer, but he added 3 rebounds and 3 blocked shots in just 14 minutes of action.
With Thijs De Ridder chipping in 9 points, 8 rebounds, and a blocked shot too, it was a good overall night for the Virginia bigs. The trio's 31 points, 18 rebounds, and 8 blocked shots topped the combined efforts of Louisville's main post players. Sananda Fru had 6 points and 5 rebounds, Aly Khalifa had 9 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 block, and Kasean Pryor had 2 points and 1 rebound for a combined 17 points, 8 rebounds, and 1 block.
One-Two-Three Punch
Virginia has opened the game with Dallin Hall, Malik Thomas, and Sam Lewis for the majority of the season. All three played significant roles in the road win.
As noted above, Lewis helped the Hoos' qiuck start with 5 points during the game-opening 14-0 run. That wasn't his only contribution, though. Lewis went on to post 15 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 blocked shot, and 1 steal in 29 minutes. He made 4 of 10 shots overall, 2 of 7 3's, and 5 of 6 free throws to reach that point total. He has now scored 10+ points in nine games this season, including three of the four ACC wins.
Thomas, meanwhile, continued his hot play of late. He poured in 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists. He made 6 of 9 shots, including 6 of 8 3-pointers. The latter set a new career-high for made 3's in a game. That came after he shot 0-5 on 3's against Stanford. Even with that cold shooting night mixed in, the senior guard has knocked down 13 of his last 29 3-point attempts, a 44.8% clip. Thomas has posted double figures in the scoring column in six straight games and he's had 19+ three times in that stretch.
In this game, Thomas got particularly hot in the early part of the second half. He made a triple at the 19:30 mark and then proceeded to add a trio of 3's in a span of just 1:17 just a couple of minutes later. That flurry of shots came on three straight possessions and had UVA up 46-34 on the scoreboard at the time.
Hall didn't have the same points totals as his starting wing mates, but with 5 points, 4 assists, and just 2 turnovers, he continued to be the connecting piece that allows the versatile scoring options around him to flourish. For example, he logged an assist on the Johann Grünloh 3-pointer that opened the scoring and he had a pair of assists among Thomas' 4 3-pointers to start the second half. That's been a theme this season and has earned the adjective "steady" from Odom on multiple occasions. After Tuesday's game, Hall ranks third in the ACC with a 2.9 assist-to-turnover ratio. He's averaging 4.1 assists per game. For the season, he has 11 games with 4+ assists.
Hall also grabbed a career-best 12 rebounds in this game with 10 of those on the defensive glass.
Jacari White's Return
The Cavaliers got some good news beyond the win in this game. Jacari White returned to the lineup after missing give games following wrist surgery.
You could sense a little bit of rust with White from the extended layoff. While he missed only five games, the injury occurred way back on Dec. 20 and Virginia had a multi-day gap between games later that month. As a result, White had not played in three and a half weeks.
An offensive spark off the bench, White chipped in 5 points and 2 rebounds in just 11 minutes. He made 1 of 3 3-pointers while playing with a brace or splint on his left wrist. That's his non-shooting hand. Defensively, though, is where he seemed most out of rhythm. He could not get to the shooter twice in his first rotation back, leading to the Cardinals' first 6 points after that 14-0 UVA start. There were a couple of other moments like that later in the game as well.
None of that is alarming. The fact that he made it back to the floor that quickly and still found a way to produce some points is a good sign for team. It boosts the depth again and gives the Hoos another threat to challenge opposing defenses.
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