For its last non-conference home game, No. 21 Virginia hosted its final opponent of the year, American, on a quick turnaround. Just Saturday, Coach Ryan Odom’s squad turned a sluggish first half into a close win over rival Maryland, leaving with a 10-1 record with one last game before conference play.
“At the end of the Maryland game, we made it clear to our guys that we were not excited about the way that we finished that game,” Odom said. “And tonight certainly we were much better.”
The Cavaliers (11-1, 0-0 ACC) responded by eviscerating their opposition, beating the young Eagles (7-6, 0-0 Patriot) 95-51 — their fourth time this season scoring 90 points or more and the largest margin of victory. Freshman forward Thijs De Ridder led the game in scoring with 27 points in just 25 minutes of play, going 11-15 from the field and 3-4 from three.
Six of American’s 12 players were freshmen, with the team’s tallest player listed at 6-foot-9. The Eagles are known more as a team that hunts the three point shot — defensively, they had no easy answer to Virginia’s size and physicality, particularly the 6-foot-9, imposing De Ridder.
De Ridder has thrived on those mismatches this season. In the first half alone, the physical Belgian tallied 21 points, finding success as a creator and as a spot-up threat on the perimeter. De Ridder said that, after scoring only five against Maryland, he came in focused on starting the game well and making the easy shots.
“I was just extremely focused,” De Ridder said. “I was just a little bit frustrated with how [other] games started for me — like two missed layups [against Maryland].”
Of the Cavaliers’ 96 points, 56 came in the paint. Another 27 came from three and 10 at the line, those three sources accounting for all but 13 points. Even shooting below its season average and only shooting 31 percent from three through the first 20 minutes, Virginia was able to put up its second highest scoring of the season.
Behind De Ridder, four Cavaliers scored in double digits. Still not shooting at his best level, graduate guard Malik Thomas hauled in four rebounds, dished out three assists and notched 11 points in his classic fashion — forcing contact on drives and getting free throw attempts. He went 5-8 from the line and 3-6 from the field. Junior guard Sam Lewis added 11 more off of three three pointers and a layup, while freshman guard Chance Mallory scored 10, supplemented by five rebounds and four assists.
Tied with Thomas and Lewis with 11 points was sophomore guard Elijah Gertrude. With graduate guard Jacari White sidelined, Gertrude played his most minutes of the season, scoring his second mast as a Cavalier and his most since returning from injury this season. He did not miss a single shot, adding two rebounds and three assists in 15 minutes of play.
“It’s really just my job to go out there and play my game, take care of the ball and get everyone involved,” Gertrude said. “The coaches preach ‘stay ready’ and that’s just what I was trying to do.”
Graduate guard Dallin Hall submitted another quiet but winning performance. He scored just two points but tied his Virginia career high with seven assists and added four boards without turning the ball over once.
Senior center Ugonna Onyenso and graduate forward Devin Tillis both added to Virginia’s 45-23 rebounding differential, bringing in six and seven respectively. The Eagles — who make 35 percent of their three pointers on average — shot a paltry 8-35 from distance, missing a handful of open shots from the wing and corner.
After sustaining a wrist injury from a post-dunk fall in his last outing, White will undergo surgery on his wrist this week. Odom noted that he is optimistic about the team’s depth in White’s absence, which should sideline the veteran sparkplug for several games to kick off ACC play.
“It’s his off-hand,” Odom said. “So that’s the best news we could get in a situation like this. The strength of this team is the depth that we have … We’re confident overall in this group and we are confident in Jacari getting back. He’s going to have surgery tomorrow and then still be able to see his family for Christmas and come back and be with us.”
The Cavaliers now have some time off before conference play begins. Odom said that they will return the 26th ahead of a New Year’s Eve ACC opener.
“We’ll practice late that evening,” Odom said. “Just to get the guys sweating again and back in the gym together and around one another, and then the prep will begin that night.”
Virginia will open ACC play in Blacksburg, playing the first leg of the Commonwealth Clash away from home. Virginia Tech holds losses to mid-major powerhouses in VCU and Saint Mary’s and has only played two high-major teams, winning in overtime over Providence and South Carolina. That said, the Hokies (11-2, 0-0 ACC) are a strong offensive team with a good starting five, led by junior forward Amani Hansberry and 6-foot-9 freshman guard Neoklis Avdalas, with additional output from senior forward Tobi Lawal and sharpshooting junior guard Jaden Schutt.
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