No. 6 Cavaliers Extend Dominance Over Terrapins

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

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — In its first trip in eight years to this erstwhile ACC town, the University of Virginia men’s basketball team struggled to find its footing for much of the game Friday night (Nov. 13).

No. 6 UVA trailed Maryland by 11 points at halftime and by 10 with 12:20 remaining. The Cavaliers kept battling, though, and were rewarded with an 87-83 victory over the Terrapins before an amped-up crowd of 16,908 at XFINITY Center.

“It was a great environment,” Virginia head coach Ryan Odom said after his team’s first true road game of the season.

The Terps “put a ton of pressure on us in the first half to respond,” Odom said, “and we had no other choice but to respond appropriately after halftime. Once we got to halftime, our guys did a nice job of regrouping and trying to play more like ourselves.”

Maryland’s physical play “rattled us a little bit in the first half,” Virginia guard Sam Lewis said, “but in the second half, we regrouped and came out with a fight.”

Lewis scored a career-best 28 points, most coming on layups, to lead Virginia (5-0), and forward Thijs De Ridder added 20 points and seven rebounds. The Wahoos’ starting center, Johann Grünloh, contributed 15 points, seven boards and three blocked shots, and point guard Chance Mallory totaled 12 points, five rebounds, four assists and one steal.

For the Hoos, the win was their 10^th in their past 11 meetings with Maryland, which is now a member of the Big Ten.

The Terps fell to 1-2. Maryland’s fans were pumped for this game, especially those sitting in the student section, and until late in the second half they held out hope that they’d be the ones celebrating at the final buzzer.

Reality set in after De Ridder’s 3-pointer gave the Hoos an 85-77 lead with 1:32 left. That shot sent Maryland fans, most of them wearing or clutching the Crush the Cavs T-shirts distributed before the game, streaming to the exits.

The three heard around the DMV 🎯 #GoHoos https://t.co/Yea73UcCKe

— Virginia Men's Basketball (@UVAMensHoops) November 14, 2026

In the second half, Virginia shot a blistering 76.9% from the floor against a Maryland defense that succeeded in taking away 3-pointers but often left lanes to the basket open. The Hoos, who came in averaging 11.5 made treys per game, attempted only 10 shots from beyond the arc Friday night. But they scored 58 points in the paint.

Virginia wants balance on offense, Odom said, but “when you get 58 points in the paint, the coach is not going to complain about that. We got to the rim and where we needed to be and scored. And you have to read the defense. How's the defense playing you? And you have to take what the defense gives you at times. And not that they were giving us those layups. I don't mean it that way. It's more reading the game. And I think our guys did a nice job of figuring out where we could get baskets. And it wasn't firing 3s in that game.”

Until Friday night, Virginia had yet to face serious adversity in a game this season. When trouble arose, Odom leaned heavily on Lewis, De Ridder, Grünloh and Mallory, all of whom played leading roles on the UVA team that finished 30-6 last season.

“These guys have been in some battles,” Odom said, “there's no question about it. Last season, we had some tight, tight wins, especially on the road. We had to answer. Today, the pressure was on us to play better if we were going to have a chance to win and play more like ourselves ... I think the guys did a nice job overall of getting ourselves back in position to transfer the pressure the other direction. Finishing it out was really good.”

Even when little was working for the Cavaliers, De Ridder said, the players “were talking, constantly communicating. I think we just did a great job in the huddle, during the free throws and stuff, just trying to figure stuff out, and it just kept us going.”

Virginia went ahead for good on a Lewis drive and dunk with 5:06 remaining. He’s an elite outside shooter who twice last season made five treys in a game, but he showed off another set of skills Friday night. The 6-foot-7 Lewis was 12 for 16 from the floor, and all 12 of those baskets came from inside the arc.

“I just played in the flow in the game,” Lewis said. “Whatever they gave me, I took. The 3 wasn't falling, so I was taking it to the basket, and that was open. That's what we needed at the time, so that's what I took.”

Asked about Lewis, Maryland head coach Buzz Williams said: "He was a guy we played as a 3-point shooter that turned into a very physical downhill guard.”

Maryland attempted 39 free throws, many of which were the result of ill-advised decisions by his players, Odom said.

“The issue I had with it was just the undisciplined fouls, the reaching,” Odom said. “We reached way too much, especially in situations where maybe a guy's going away from the basket and might be taking a harder shot or a shot that we would be OK with [the opponent] shooting over a body, and then we reach in and foul. Those are the ones that we've got to eliminate.”

Cross with caution. #GoHoos https://t.co/TxZiPMfcPK

— Virginia Men's Basketball (@UVAMensHoops) November 14, 2026

Mallory, Lewis, De Ridder and Grünloh each played at least 32 minutes against Maryland.

“It makes sense when you think about it,” said Odom, who’s in his second year at UVA. “These guys are back [from last season]. They've been in big games. They’ve established themselves. It's way different than last year. Last year, everybody was new. You couldn't tell the difference between the starting lineup and the guys that came in off the bench. Now you can. And that's not the bench's fault. They've got to earn a little bit more trust.”

The Cavaliers have capable reserves, Odom said, “but the guys that are the starters, they deserve to be out there right now. It's just the facts of what it is. And so we have plenty of time to develop the bench that we have. And we're certainly going to do that.”

UP NEXT: For the second week in a row, Tuesday means a 9 p.m. game for UVA, this time against Old Dominion. It will air on ACC Network.

ODU (4-0) hosts Longwood at 4 p.m. Saturday.

Former Virginia assistant Orlando Vandross is in his first year on head coach Mike Jones’ staff at ODU.

UVA leads the series 9-5. These programs haven’t met since Dec. 22, 2012, when the Monarchs upset the Cavaliers 63-61 at the Richmond Coliseum.

To receive Jeff White’s articles by email, click the appropriate box in this link to subscribe.