Virginia gets back to work Tuesday night with another early test at John Paul Jones Arena, this time against Bucknell in non-conference play.
The No. 6 Cavaliers, off to a 3-0 start, tip at 9 p.m. against the 0-2 Bison.
The game will air on the ACC Network and the Virginia Sports Radio Network, with streaming available on ESPN.com/watch. Live stats will also be available on VirginiaSports.com and the Virginia Sports app.
The matchup gives UVA its first of two Patriot League opponents in 2026-27. Loyola Maryland is next on the home schedule, with that game set for Friday, Nov. 20.
Virginia’s strong opening has already included a statement win, and Thijs De Ridder remains at the center of it. He was named Co-ACC Player of the Week after averaging 18.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.6 steals across the Cavaliers’ three victories last week.
De Ridder and Johann Grünloh were both major factors in Virginia’s 91-72 win over then-No. 12 Arkansas at the Skyscanner Capital Showcase on Nov.
- De Ridder finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Grünloh added 15 points and five blocked shots.
Sam Lewis scored 16 points, Chance Mallory had 15 points and six assists, and UVA turned 15 Arkansas turnovers into 24 points while knocking down 12 threes. Jordan Smith Jr. led the Razorbacks with 19 points.
That win helped keep Virginia perfect, a start the program has now matched for the fourth straight season.
The Cavaliers are also carrying the No. 6 spot in the latest AP Top-25 poll, their highest ranking since Feb. 20, 2023. Their No. 9 preseason ranking was the program’s best since starting the 2020-21 season at No. 4, and it was Virginia’s first AP preseason top-25 appearance since 2022-23.
Ryan Odom enters his second season leading the program after a debut year that produced a 30-6 record, a 15-3 ACC mark and a second NCAA Tournament trip in 2025-26. Those 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 basketball coach since Tony Bennett’s 35 in 2018-19.
Odom is now 33-6 at Virginia and 255-133 overall in 13 seasons. He has taken Virginia, VCU, Utah State, UMBC and Lenoir-Rhyne to the NCAA Tournament, and his teams have reached the conference championship game in each of the last four seasons. He also became the first UVA coach to begin his tenure 5-0, passing Henry Lannigan’s 4-0 start in 1905-06.
This year’s roster looks familiar in a lot of places. Virginia brought back 10 of its 11 possible players from 2025-26, including starters De Ridder, Johann Grünloh and Sam Lewis, plus sixth-man Chance Mallory.
De Ridder and Lewis are both averaging 18.7 points per game, Mallory is at 14.3, and Grünloh is scoring 13. De Ridder also leads the team with 8.3 rebounds per game, while Grünloh is next at 5.7.
De Ridder earned All-ACC first-team honors last season and was joined by Mallory on the NABC East All-District Team. Other returning players include Elijah Gertrude, Martin Carrere, Carter Lang, Silas Barksdale, Desmond Roberts and Owen Odom.
Virginia also added eight newcomers, including 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. The Cavaliers also brought in first-year center Favour Ibe and preferred walk-ons Nick Rotter and Quincy Watson.
Bucknell arrives with the series history tilted in Virginia’s favor, though the teams have not met in more than two decades. UVA leads the all-time matchup 2-1 in a series that began in 1961.
The Cavaliers last saw the Bison on Dec. 28, 2000, when Virginia rolled to a 99-49 win at University Hall. Bucknell’s lone victory in the series came in the first meeting, a 99-81 result in 1961.
In that 2000 game, Travis Watson posted 14 points and 11 rebounds, Adam Hall added 13 points, Chris Williams scored 12, and Roger Mason Jr. and Maurice Young each finished with 10. Virginia shot 51.3% from the field, went 8 of 16 from 3-point range, outrebounded Bucknell 52-26 and forced 27 turnovers. Boakai Lalugba led the Bison with 14 points.
The Cavaliers also have some national watch-list attention already. De Ridder is on the preseason 2027 NABC Player of the Year and Naismith Trophy watch lists, while Mallory, De Ridder and Grünloh were placed on other preseason positional watch lists. Those lists will be trimmed later in the season, with 20 players reduced to 10 in late January, then five in late February before the finalists are sent to the Naismith Hall of Fame selection committees in March.
Virginia’s identity, as the program puts it, is built around “humility, passion, unity, servanthood, thankfulness and accountability.”
And Tuesday night offers another chance to show it.
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