Virginia is back at John Paul Jones Arena on Friday night with another non-conference test, this one against Northeastern at 5 p.m.
The No. 9 Cavaliers (1-0) are coming off a season-opening win over Drexel on Nov. 3, and they’ll see another Coastal Athletic Association opponent as they continue their early run through the schedule. The game will air on the ACC Network Extra and the Virginia Sports Radio Network, with live stats available through VirginiaSports.com and the Virginia Sports app.
Virginia’s opener was packed with early-season fireworks. The Cavaliers forced 18 steals against Drexel, a John Paul Jones Arena record and a total that tied for fourth-most in school history. Thijs De Ridder, the preseason ACC Player of the Year, led the way with 24 points, his 13th career 20-point outing.
This matchup also brings Virginia and Northeastern together for the first time since Dec. 16, 2023, when the Cavaliers escaped with a 56-54 win at JPJ. Virginia owns a 2-0 edge in the all-time series, with the other meeting coming in an 82-60 win at University Hall on Nov. 24, 1989.
That 2023 game was a grind. Reece Beekman scored 21 points, including the driving layup that put Virginia ahead for good, after the Cavaliers trailed 30-24 at halftime.
He also finished with six rebounds, five assists and two steals. Jake Groves added eight points and Leon Bond III scored six, while Joe Pridgen paced Northeastern with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
Virginia enters this one ranked No. 9 in the AP preseason poll, its highest preseason slot since beginning the 2020-21 season at No. 4.
It’s also the Cavaliers’ first preseason top-25 ranking since they were No. 18 entering 2022-23. UVA received two votes in last year’s preseason poll and finished 17th, and it has not been ranked in the AP Top 25 since Feb.
17, 2024.
Ryan Odom is in his second season leading the program after guiding Virginia to a 30-6 record, a 15-3 ACC mark and a second NCAA Tournament appearance in 2025-26. His 30 wins were the most by a first-year Virginia head coach, topping Jeff Jones’ 21 in 1990-91, and they were the most for a UVA men’s coach since Tony Bennett’s 35 in 2018-19.
Odom is 31-6 at Virginia and 253-133 overall in 13 seasons, with NCAA Tournament trips at Virginia, VCU, Utah State, UMBC and Lenoir-Rhyne. He also became the first UVA coach to open his tenure 5-0, passing Henry Lannigan’s 4-0 start in 1905-06.
The roster around him is loaded with continuity. Virginia brought back 10 of 11 possible players from 2025-26, including starters Thijs De Ridder, Johann Grünloh and Sam Lewis, plus sixth man Chance Mallory.
De Ridder, Lewis, Mallory and Grünloh were four of the team’s top six scorers last season, and De Ridder earned All-ACC first-team honors while Mallory made the NABC East All-District Team. Elijah Gertrude, Martin Carrere, Carter Lang, Silas Barksdale, Desmond Roberts and Owen Odom also return.
The Cavaliers also added eight newcomers, highlighted by transfers Jurian Dixon from UC Irvine, Kalu Anya from St. Louis, Jan Vide from Loyola Marymount and Christian Harmon from Arkansas State, along with European import Nolan Adekunle of VET CONCEPT Gladiators Trier. First-year center Favour Ibe joins the group, along with preferred walk-ons Nick Rotter and Quincy Watson.
Friday’s game comes with more than just a ranking attached. Virginia is celebrating the 20th anniversary of John Paul Jones Arena this season, with the building having opened on Nov.
12, 2006. The Cavaliers have been especially tough there, going 273-64 in 21 seasons at JPJ and 113-11 in non-conference games since 2009-10.
They’ve won 10 or more home games in 17 straight seasons and are 17-1 at home under Odom.
There’s also a national spotlight on a few of Virginia’s key pieces. De Ridder is on the preseason 2027 NABC Player of the Year and Naismith Trophy watch lists, while Mallory, De Ridder and Grünloh landed on other preseason positional watch lists.
In Other News...
Virginia Faces A Real Test Against Arkansas Pressure And Length
Virginias first real measuring stick of the season arrives in Washington, D.C., where the Cavaliers meet Arkansas in the Capital Showcase after both teams opened with wins. Virginia handled Drexel in its opener, while Arkansas took care of UA-Pine Bluff, but this one is more about style than records. The Razorbacks bring pressure and length, the kind of defensive look that can quickly expose whether a young offense is ready for a step up in competition.
For Virginia, the challenge is as much about composure as execution, because Arkansas can turn a clean possession into a scramble in a hurry. The Cavaliers will have to sort through a series of difficult individual battles on the floor while also dealing with the pace and physicality that come with a team built to disrupt. It is an early test, but one that should say plenty about where Virginia stands before the schedule gets any less forgiving. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Needs A Sharper Showing Before The Arkansas Test
Virginia opened the season with a win over Drexel, and now the Cavaliers get a quick chance to clean up some early rough edges before the schedule stiffens. Ryan Odom liked the overall dominance he saw in the opener, but there was still enough slippage to leave room for a sharper performance, especially with Northeastern coming in off a loss to Boston University.
The Huskies bring a different look than Drexel, and Virginias frontcourt size should matter again if the Cavaliers can use it to control the paint and keep their offense efficient. The other key is perimeter defense, with Northeasterns Rashad King standing out as the main threat to track while Virginia tries to build momentum heading toward the Arkansas test. [Read more 🡒]
Virginias Bowl Hopes Now Hinge On A Brutal Final Stretch
Virginias path to a bowl game has narrowed to a simple but demanding formula: Tony Elliotts team is 4-5 and needs two wins in its final three games to stay in the postseason conversation. The Cavaliers still have California, North Carolina and Virginia Tech left on the schedule, and the margin for error has all but disappeared as the season enters its final stretch.
The challenge is not just the record, but the way Virginia has had to navigate this run, with questions lingering on offense, defense and the injury front. That has made the bowl picture feel fluid, with analysts projecting the Cavaliers into the Freedom Mortgage Military Bowl for now, even as those matchups remain speculative and the team still has to earn its way there. [Read more 🡒]