Led by a 22-year-old freshman forward and the shortest player on the roster, Virginia made a statement in its first game under head coach Ryan Odom: This isn’t Tony Bennett’s program anymore.
Belgian import Thijs De Ridder delivered a double-double and 5-foot-10 Chance Mallory sparked a second-half surge Monday as the Cavaliers pulled away from Rider for an 87-53 victory.
Virginia (1-0) will look for more success with its new style Friday night against NC Central (0-1), which comes to Charlottesville, Va., after losing by 48 points in its season opener Monday at NC State.
Instead of the patient, deliberate (critics called it boring) offense and Bennett’s signature “pack line” defense, Virginia showed a faster tempo, launched 30 3-pointers and played pressure defense against the Broncos.
“We got into our press, and we were able to speed up the ball-handler,” said Mallory, a true freshman point guard from Charlottesville. “… The main focus was just on defense, because we knew we were going to be able to score.”
It worked against a Rider team picked to finish 10th in the MAAC, but only time will tell if the Cavaliers’ strategy will succeed against the likes of Duke and North Carolina.
De Ridder finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Mallory had 11 points off the bench including back-to-back 3-pointers in the second half. Johann Grunloh, a 7-footer from Germany, added 12 points, seven rebounds and three blocks as transfers Sam Lewis and Jacari White each had 11 points.
NC Central was down 54-26 by halftime and trailed the Wolfpack by as many as 58 points. NC State knocked down 19 3-pointers – 14 more than the Eagles – in a 114-66 win in Raleigh, N.C.
Gage Lattimore scored 20 points and Khouri Carvey added 19 points and eight rebounds to lead NC Central.
Eagles coach LeVelle Moton, in his 16th season at the MEAC school, said he was neither pleased nor surprised by the result in this “NIL era.”
“A $12 million basketball team versus a zero-dollar basketball team,” Moton said. “So, we’ll keep fighting and we’ll learn from this and we’ll continue.”
