No. 6 Virginia heads into its first road game of the season Friday night with plenty of momentum, but Maryland will be waiting in College Park for a matchup that still carries the feel of an old conference grudge.
The Cavaliers are 4-0 after a fast-moving start that has them scoring 93.0 points per game, and they showed no signs of slowing down in Tuesday’s 95-61 home win over Bucknell. Virginia jumped out 11-0, led by 22 at halftime and stretched the margin to as many as 37 while piling up 12 3-pointers and 12 steals. It was the fourth straight game in which the Cavaliers reached double figures in both categories.
Second-year coach Ryan Odom said the challenge has been keeping the team sharp through a packed opening stretch.
“We challenged our guys to be ready, and we talked a lot about how (when) people turn the TV on, or they choose to come to the game to watch us, are they going to get the same Virginia?” Odom said after the team’s fourth win in eight days.
“Are they going to get Virginia in the way that we play? And I think for the most part we did (against Bucknell).
That’s a big challenge. You can have ups and downs throughout the season, but it can’t be because you’re not ready to roll, or you’re tired, physically tired, mentally tired, whatever it is.
You’ve got to answer.”
Virginia’s ball movement has been a major part of the early surge. Chance Mallory scored 16 points to lead four players in double figures, and he also handed out six of the Cavaliers’ 30 assists on 37 made field goals. That assist total was Virginia’s highest in a game since a 1995 win against George Mason.
Thijs De Ridder, who leads the team in scoring at 17.8 points per game and rebounding at 8.3, pointed to the unselfishness driving the offense.
“We have this saying: Your pass matters. Every time we give a pass, we’re just so confident that our teammates are going to give an extra pass,” said Thijs De Ridder.
The matchup also brings back a long series between programs that first met in 1913 and shared the Atlantic Coast Conference from 1953-2014 before Maryland moved to the Big Ten. Virginia has taken nine of the last 10 meetings, including an 80-72 home win last December.
“It’s an important game for both teams,” Odom said. “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.”
Maryland comes in at 1-1 and has had more time to sit on its most recent result, an 86-74 loss at Georgetown on Saturday. The Hoyas hit 15 of 30 from 3-point range and built a lead as large as 27.
Pharrel Payne leads the Terrapins with 20.5 points per game, with Andre Mills at 15.5, Kaden House at 13.5 and DJ Wagner at 10.5. Maryland coach Buzz Williams, who coached at Virginia Tech from 2014-19, said on Monday’s “Talking Terps Basketball Show” that Virginia will demand a complete effort.
“Against a team like Virginia, you will have to be your best not only in your competitive spirit, you’ll have to be at your best in executing your plan and then being able to respond when it’s time to adjust that plan,” Williams said.
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 🡒]