Virginia’s first true road test of the season comes with a familiar edge.
After opening with four wins in eight days, including a neutral-site win over Arkansas in a matchup of top 25 teams, No. 6 Virginia heads to College Park on Friday night to face Maryland at 8 p.m. The Terrapins are rolling out a “red out,” celebrating the 25th anniversary of their 2002 National Championship, and they’ll be looking to shake off an 86-74 loss to Georgetown from last Saturday.
That sets up a tricky setting for the Hoos, who are carrying a roster built with older players and multiple returning starters. Virginia coach Ryan Odom made clear he expects a challenge.
“Certainly it’s better than not having that experience,” Virginia coach Ryan Odom said. “Maryland’s a good basketball team.
They’re well coached. I wouldn’t read too much into that last game that they had - I mean Georgetown made 15 3’s, they were light’s out in that game.
I think Maryland provides a lot of challenges to any team. So when we get the rivalry between the two schools, it’s an important game for both teams and we want to do our best to play well and try to earn a W up there but we know it’s going to be a stiff challenge.”
The matchup carries real history, too. Maryland’s longest played series is with Virginia, a rivalry that goes back to 1913.
The teams played every year from 1924-2014 except for the 1939-40 season, and they have met 185 times. Virginia was also Maryland’s final regular-season ACC opponent before the Terps left the league, with Maryland winning that game in overtime in 2014.
Odom even shared some of his own memories of the series with his team, going back to when he was a kid watching games while his father Dave Odom worked as a Cavalier assistant. That history landed with Thijs De Ridder.
“I mean it’s really cool. When coach told us all these cool stories from back in the days when he was a small kid with his dad, it’s really cool,” UVA’s Thijs De Ridder said.
“That makes this exciting for these games. That’s why we play basketball to play those cool games in those difficult environments.
No, we’re just really excited for the team.”
Stylistically, this one has the feel of a tug-of-war. Bucknell coach John Griffin III has already seen both teams this season, with the Bison losing 96-67 to Maryland in the opener and 95-61 to Virginia this week. His read: the contrast is real.
Maryland leans on driving, post-ups, and offensive rebounding. The Terps are getting to the line at a .407 free throw rate, which sits in the top half of the country, while their 3-point rate of 35.6% is in the bottom third nationally.
They’re also assisting on just .333 of made baskets, one of the 12 lowest marks in the country so far, but they make up for it by attacking the glass. Maryland ranks No. 1 nationally in offensive rebounding percentage at 58.1%.
Virginia’s approach looks different. The Hoos are creating more through passing and ball movement, which has pushed their 3-point rate to 46.7% and their assist rate to .674, both strong early-season numbers.
They’re also active on the offensive boards, grabbing 43.3% of available offensive rebounds to rank 14th nationally. Their free throw rate sits at .279, which ranks in the bottom third of the country.
So the question Friday is simple: which team can impose its preferred style? Rebounding, perimeter shooting, and foul trouble could decide it.
“It’s kind of a clash of styles in that Maryland is incredibly athletic and they’re going to crash the glass - now obviously UVA prides themselves on that as well,” Griffin said. “But the ball moves differently and I think it will be a high level match-up.
It will be interesting to see what style wins. It’s a downhill battle vs. a little more aesthetically maybe perimeter based, but some of these guys on UVA are just very impressive.”
Fan(s) Of The Week
Family time at a football game.
Student Fan(s) Of The Week
That good old song of Wahoowa after another Virginia victory.
Feature Photo Of The Week
A new season has tipped off with Johann Grünloh and Virginia off to a 4-0 start.
In Other News...
Virginia Just Passed Its First Real Road Test
Virginias first real road test of the season came with the kind of early trouble that can expose a young team, but the Cavaliers handled it well enough to leave College Park with an 87-83 win over Maryland at XFINITY Center. The victory kept Virginia unbeaten at 5-0 and stretched its recent success in the series to 10 of the last 11 meetings, a useful marker for a team still trying to establish its identity away from home.
What made this one stand out was the way Virginia kept finding answers as the game tightened. Sam Lewis delivered a career-best scoring night, while Thijs De Ridder, Johann Grnloh and Chance Mallory all chipped in to help steady the Cavaliers through a tense finish. For a team that had not yet been tested in this kind of setting, it was the sort of result that can carry real weight later in the ACC race. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Got The Road Win Fans Wanted But Exposed A Bigger Concern
Virginia left Maryland with the road win fans had been waiting for, an 87-83 result at Xfinity Center that offered a clear snapshot of both the promise and the messiness of this group. The Cavaliers leaned on their core players to steady things when the game tightened, and for stretches they looked like the kind of team that can survive a tough night away from home.
Still, the box score also pointed to the bigger issue lurking beneath the result. Virginia had trouble at the free throw line and gave the ball away too often, problems that could have turned a good victory into a frustrating one if the final sequence had gone differently. The win counts, especially on the road, but it also left the Cavaliers with a reminder that cleaner execution will matter when the margins get smaller. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Returns To A Season-Shaping Chance Against Cal
A week off gave Virginia a chance to reset, and now the Cavaliers come back into a game that feels like one of the more important ones left on the schedule. Both Virginia and California have had disappointing seasons, but this matchup still carries real weight because it offers a chance to build something more stable before the year gets away completely. The Cavaliers also get to lean on a defense that has shown more playmaking ability than the record might suggest.
California brings its own problems into the meeting, especially on offense, where turnovers have been a recurring issue. Virginias defense has been better at forcing mistakes than most parts of the team have been at sustaining momentum, and that gives the Cavaliers a path to control the game if they can keep the pressure on. It is the kind of late-season spot where a single clean performance can change the tone around a program, and Virginia has a legitimate opening to make this one count. [Read more 🡒]