Cavaliers Overwhelm Pirates at JPJ

By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Opponents have rarely tested the UVA men’s basketball team so far this season, and Tuesday night brought another blowout to John Paul Jones Arena.

Virginia’s foe this time was Hampton, which fared no better than Rider or North Carolina Central had at JPJ last week. The Cavaliers shot 55 percent from the floor and routed the Pirates 91-53 in a game that started a little after 9 p.m.

“I thought we could have performed a lot better, but they had a lot to do with the way we performed,” Hampton head coach Ivan Thomas said.

Five players scored in double figures for the Wahoos (3-0), who have yet to trail this season. Leading the way against the Pirates (1-2) was reserve center Ugonna Onyenso, one of Virginia’s two 7-footers.

Onyenso, who previously played at Kentucky and Kansas State, is best known for his shot-blocking prowess, but he scored a career-high 18 points Tuesday night and also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

That six of those points came on shots from outside the arc delighted Onyenso, a native of Nigeria. Until Tuesday night, he’d been 0 for 3 from 3-point range as a college player, but he made 2 of his 3 attempts against the Pirates and looked confident doing so.

His first trey, with 11:08 left in the first half, pushed Virginia’s lead to 19-10.

“I was so happy to see the ball go in, because I’ve waited so long for this,” Onyenso said with a huge smile.

His second 3-pointer sent the Hoos into halftime with a 47-19 lead.

“He’s been working hard in practices, showing us and the coaching staff that he can make those shots,” UVA swingman Sam Lewis said. “So we have trust in him in those games, and I’m proud of him.”

Lewis, a transfer from Toledo, scored 13 points, his high as a Cavalier, and made 3 of 4 shots from 3-point range. Overall, Virginia was 11 for 22 from beyond the arc. Four players made multiple treys for UVA: Lewis, Onyenso, guard Chance Mallory (2 for 2) and swingman Jacari White (2 for 4).

Mallory, a freshman who starred at nearby St. Anne’s-Belfield School, came off the bench to score a season-high 16 points, and he had a game-high three steals. He’s already established himself as a crowd favorite, and the fans roared their approval when Mallory’s four-point play gave Virginia a 16-8 lead at the 12:01 mark of the first half.

“He’s done that pretty much every game that he’s subbed in,” said Ryan Odom, who’s in his first year as Virginia’s head coach. “He’s given us a lift. And you think about him and Ugo coming in together and doing what they did in that game, that’s huge.”

The Cavaliers dominated in every facet of the game. Virginia, which leads the series 10-0, outrebounded the Pirates 49-25 and held them to 31.7-percent accuracy from the floor. UVA also forced three shot-clock violations. Onyenso and Johann Grünloh, the Hoos’ other 7-footer, blocked four shots each.

“Their size bothered us tremendously,” Thomas said.

A former assistant coach at Providence and associate head coach at Georgetown, Thomas said he saw “very few flaws” in the roster Odom has constructed at UVA.

“The ability to play defense and the ability to score the ball—I’ve been around this game a long time, been in the Big East—that is a recipe for success,” Thomas said.

Of the 15 players on Virginia’s roster, only three were in the program in 2024-25, and the team is still jelling. But Odom saw the Cavaliers take a step forward Tuesday night.

“I’m pleased with how we did tonight, the mood of the team, the attitude of the team right now, and their willingness to be coached and understanding that they don’t have it all figured out,” Odom said. “And they understand that they need to get better. And they come in every day with the right attitude to do that.”

Scoring options abound on this team. Power forward Thijs De Ridder totaled 41 points in the first two games, and Grünloh, Lewis, Mallory, White and Malik Thomas have shown they can get hot too.

Onyenso, however, averaged only 2.8 points for K-State last season, and Odom recruited him primarily for his rebounding, defense and rim protection. “But once we began to work with him and we got in the gym with him, then it became apparent that he’s more than just a shot-blocker,” Odom said. “And I think certainly that was evidenced tonight. He really played big for us.”

UVA’s coaching staff encouraged Onyenso to continue developing his offensive game, he said, and Odom told him to play through his mistakes.

“When someone’s really patient with me, I just gotta take my time and deliver,” Onyenso said. “So I really thank him for that.”

UP NEXT: UVA wraps up its four-game homestand Saturday against Marshall. The noon game will air on ACC Network Extra.

Before traveling to Charlottesville later this week, Marshall (2-0) will host Elon on Wednesday night.

The Cavaliers have won four straight over the Thundering Herd and lead the series 7-2. In the teams’ most recent meeting, Virginia won 100-64 at JPJ on Dec. 31, 2018. The Hoos went to win the NCAA title that season.

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