By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In winning its sixth straight game, the University of Virginia men’s basketball team followed a familiar script Saturday night at Bridgeport Arena.
As they have several times in recent weeks, the 15th-ranked Wahoos found themselves down in the second half. Once again, though, they fought back and found a way to win a game they could have lost.
Their opponent this time was Ohio State, and the occasion was the Nashville Hoops Showdown, a neutral-site event that attracted a high-spirited crowd of 6,436. Virginia, which trailed by six with 10 minutes remaining, rallied to prevail 70-66 in a nonconference game with nine lead changes.
“It was just a dog fight,” UVA head coach Ryan Odom said.
The Cavaliers (22-3) trailed for most of the second half, but they pulled even at 61-61 on a basket by freshman guard Chance Mallory with 7:04 to play. They went ahead to stay on a jumper by Mallory at the 4:42 mark.
“He's not a freshman anymore,” Odom said of Mallory. “He's just an elite player. It doesn't matter who he's playing against. He thinks he belongs, and he's ready to make key plays for his team to win.
The Hoos were far from flawless Saturday night, but to “be in those situations together and be able to gut it out, I think it's super valuable for us,” said guard Dallin Hall, whose transition layup put them up 65-61 with 1:08 remaining.
“Obviously, that's not a space we want to always be in,” Hall said. “We’ve got some things we want to clean up, but it's a good experience for us going forward.”
Dallin HANDS Hall 🤲
— Virginia Men's Basketball (@UVAMensHoops) February 15, 2026
📺 @FOXTV #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/rHKfvGn2ny
A few hours before tipoff, Ohio State announced that sophomore guard John Mobley Jr., its second-leading scorer (15.1 ppg), was out indefinitely with a hand injury he sustained Wednesday night in a win over Southern California. The Buckeyes (16-9) still had guard Bruce Thornton, though, and he almost single-handedly kept them in the game.
Thornton, a powerful 6-foot-2 senior, finished with a game-high 28 points. But the Hoos held him scoreless in the final five minutes, often double-teaming Thornton to force the ball out of his hands.
“It's not something that we do all the time,” Odom said. “But we certainly have it in our package and needed to do that in this situation.”
Hall and fellow graduate student guard Malik Thomas joined Odom at the Cavaliers’ postgame press conference.
Asked about Thornton, Thomas said UVA’s “goal was to just continue to make shots hard for him, crowd him, give him different looks, whether that's bringing two on the ball or one-on-one or help and being in the gaps and just bothering him the best we can. So I think we did a great job, even though he ended up with 28 points. It was a hard 28 points, and I think our guys did a good job of just making everything hard for him.”
The Cavaliers could have pulled away late, but they went 5 for 9 from the line in the final two minutes, and one of the misses was the front end of a one-and-one. In all, the Hoos made only 22 of 32 free throws. Ohio State was 6 for 9.
Ball security also was an issue for Virginia. The Buckeyes turned UVA’s 12 turnovers into 16 points.
“I certainly want to play more efficiently,” Odom said. “The turnovers are not something that are going to be good for us. We've got to make sure that we're taking care of the ball a little bit better ... especially if you're not forcing turnovers for the other team.”
Tonight’s win (22) marks the most wins by a UVA first year head coach 👏#GoHoos pic.twitter.com/xK1aqGdTag
— Virginia Men's Basketball (@UVAMensHoops) February 15, 2026
Odom’s 22 wins are a program record for a head coach in his first season. He’d been tied with Jeff Jones, his close friend and former boss at American University. With six regular-season games left, the Cavaliers stand alone in second place in the ACC, and they’ve been as gritty on the road as at home.
“This group is just pretty resilient,” Odom said. “They stick together. They're very connected, and I'm very confident that these guys will be [connected] long after Virginia. There's no question about it. This group is really tight, and I think that's a testament to them and their character, their families. And it's also a testament to their individual character, because they were willing to take a chance to come here [to play for a new coaching staff] and make the most of it. Every team has one life to live, and this particular team is living that life to the fullest.”
Three Cavaliers scored in double figures Saturday night: Thomas (13 points), Mallory (12) and junior swingman Sam Lewis (12).
Senior center Ugonna Onyenso just missed a double-double, totaling eight points and 10 rebounds in 21-plus minutes off the bench. Equally crucial was the rim protection the 7-foot Onyenso provided. He blocked a game-high four shots and altered several others.
Late in the game, Onyenso had two blocks during an Ohio State possession that ended with a shot-clock violation.
“He’s just elite at it,” Odom said.
Thomas notes the “aura” Onyenso brings around the basket. It’s “just tremendous, and it helps us guard and it gives us a source of confidence to just pressure the ball,” Thomas said. “We know that we’ve got backup when it comes to the paint, so it’s been great.”
Onyenso’s final block came with about 15 seconds left and UVA leading 67-64. He swatted away a jumper by Thornton, Thijs De Ridder came down with the rebound, and Ohio State was forced to foul. Lewis sank two free throws to make it a five-point game with 11.5 seconds to play.
“He’s just a legitimate weapon around the rim,” Odom said of Onyenso, “and if you haven't played against him, once you do play against him and it's your first time, you can see it on film, but then it's another thing to actually go up against him.”