No. 6 Cavaliers Dominate Late Show at JPJ

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

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — If Bucknell came to John Paul Jones Arena hoping to catch Virginia on an off night, the Bison quickly realized that would not be the case.

In a game that started at 9 o’clock, the sixth-ranked Cavaliers scored the first 11 points Tuesday night. They led 53-21 midway and pulled away in the second half for a 95-61 victory before an announced crowd of 11,832.

Virginia took the court at JPJ about 54 hours after defeating then-No. 12 Arkansas 91-72 in a highly anticipated game in Washington, N.C. There wasn’t nearly as much as buzz about Bucknell’s visit to Charlottesville, but that didn’t affect the Wahoos’ preparation.

“We have to face every game the same,” said forward Thijs De Ridder. “If it's Arkansas, if it's Duke, Bucknell, we want to win those games. And if you take care of business, you can see how much fun we have putting the guys on the bench on the court, and it’s always an amazing feeling when you let those guys play.”

For the Cavaliers (4-0), this was their fourth game in eight days, but their energy never lagged. Four players scored in double figures for Virginia, led by second-year point guard Chance Mallory (16 points), who also had six assists and three steals.

AND ANOTHER 1 #GoHoos @accnetwork https://t.co/1NWUpjU2xF

— Virginia Men's Basketball (@UVAMensHoops) November 11, 2026

“We challenged our guys to be ready,” UVA head coach Ryan Odom said, “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? Are they going to get Virginia in the way that we play? And I think for the most part we did tonight. 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.”

Bucknell (0-3) came out in a 1-3-1 zone, a defense against which Virginia hadn’t practiced much this fall. No matter. The Hoos made 37 of 73 shots from the floor, and they were credited with 30 assists on those baskets.

“It’s amazing,” De Ridder said of their unselfishness. “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.”

Fourth-year guard Elijah Gertrude led the way with seven assists, four more than his previous career high. Not since a 1995 win over George Mason had the Cavaliers recorded so many assists in a game.

“That's incredible,” Odom said. “I don't think I've ever coached a team that's had 30 assists in a game.”

Johann Grünloh, a 7-foot center, totaled 13 points, a game-high nine rebounds and three blocked shots in only 21 minutes. That’s how much De Ridder played, too, and he contributed 15 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Joining Mallory, De Ridder and Grünloh in double figures was Nolan Adekunle, a newcomer to the program. Coming off a strong performance against Arkansas, the 6-foot-7 forward shined again, hitting 3 of 4 shots from 3-point range and 5 of 6 overall. He finished with 14 points.

“It’s a process,” said Adekunle, who scored 13 points against Arkansas. “It's a big adjustment for me, or was a big adjustment for me, but now I can really tell that I feel more comfortable from day to day. It's just a nice experience so far. The team fits perfect and I really love it out here.”

He totaled only eight points in Virginia’s first two games—wins over Drexel and Northeastern—but Adekunle said that didn’t frustrate him.

“I knew it was going to take time,” he said. “I'm not too hard on myself. For sure, the Arkansas game was a little bit like an icebreaker for me.”

Adekunle said he’s especially enjoyed playing with the 5-foot-10 Mallory, who leads the team in assists and steals.

“It's a lot of fun,” Adekunle said. “I feel like if you play with Chance, you always have to be ready to adjust your positioning, because he's moving so fast. You always have to look for open spots. He's like a magnet, so it's really fun for a shooter like me to play with him.”

Seventeen players were in uniform for UVA against Bucknell, and all of them played. Led by Martin Carrere and Jurian Dixon, who each scored seven, Virginia’s bench contributed 33 points. First-year center Favour Ibe blocked four shots in his seven minutes.

“I thought they did a nice job,” Odom said of the reserves. “To be quite honest, it's hard to get them all in there, and I did my best tonight to get every one of them in there.”

The Cavaliers had a significant size advantage, and they outrebounded the Bison 52-29. Twenty-three of UVA’s boards came at the offensive end.

“When zones are extended that high, it leaves the bottom area down there susceptible to size issues,” Odom said, “and I thought the guys did a nice job. And we ended up with some open 3s, obviously, because of that as well.”

Bucknell head coach John Griffin III came away impressed.

“I have a great deal of respect for the way that Ryan Odom has built his career step by step,” Griffin said. “I've admired him from afar. We're both sons of coaches, so we've been in the business as kids, and watching him build it from step to step, I have a great admiration for. And so we will take the positives from this game and try to grow and learn. This is a great environment. A close friend of mine is the [UVA] women's coach, Aaron Roussell, so I was able to really get to see this campus as a whole. It's a beautiful place, and I was surprised by the sheer number of people for a 9 o 'clock game.”

UP NEXT: At 8 p.m. Friday, in a non-conference game to air on Peacock, No. 6 UVA (4-0) will take on Maryland (1-1) at XFINITY Center in College Park, Md.

The former ACC rivals resumed their series, which started in 1913, last season. In the first game between these programs since Nov. 28, 2018, Virginia won 80-72 at John Paul Jones Arena.

The victory was the Cavaliers’ ninth in their past 10 games with the Terrapins, who are now members of the Big Ten.

The Terps are in their second season under head coach Buzz Williams. Maryland, which opened with a 96-67 win over Bucknell at XFINITY Center, lost 86-74 to Georgetown on Saturday at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.

Odom said he wouldn’t read too much into that loss. The Hoyas shot “lights out in that game,” he said. “I think Maryland provides a lot of challenges to any team. And so when we get the rivalry between the two schools, it's an important game for both teams. 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.”

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