By Scott Ratcliffe

Playing in its first game coming out of the exam break, Virginia looked sloppy at times, but led by as many as 16 points against former conference foe Maryland on Saturday at John Paul Jones Arena. The Wahoos had to sweat it out and hold off a late Terrapin rally for an 80-72 victory.

UVA, which matched its longest win streak of the season (five games), had to shake off the rust from the 11-day layoff, as the team missed 14 of its first 17 and 22 of its first 26 field-goal attempts, but found its rhythm in the latter stages of the first half and never looked back.

With the win, the 23rd-ranked Cavaliers moved to 10-1 on the season with one more nonconference contest lurking early next week, prior to the start of the all-important ACC schedule. UVA is 10-0 when scoring 80 points or more under Coach Ryan Odom.

Virginia was led by senior point guard Dallin Hall, who didn’t miss a shot on Saturday, finishing 8 for 8 from the field for a season-high 20 points to go along with a game-best 6 assists, 3 rebounds and 3 steals.

Hall did technically misfire on a free throw late in the contest, but was 3 for 4 from the line and sank his only 3-point attempt, finishing just 3 points off matching his career high of 23 set in his freshman season.

The Terrapins (6-6) were without the services of their leading scorer (17.5 ppg) and rebounder (7.2 rpg) on the season, senior big man Pharrel Payne, who was injured in their last outing against Michigan. Maryland took advantage of Virginia’s poor shooting, however, and grabbed an early 19-11 lead. The Hoos eventually overcame the cold start and closed the first half with 13 unanswered points for a 24-19 advantage at the break.

UVA stretched it to an elongated 17-0 run, scoring the first two buckets out of halftime, but the Terps weren’t going to go quietly.

Trailing 35-33, UVA used a 15-2 run to take a 48-37 lead midway through the second half, and a lot of that production came from Jacari White. The North Dakota State transfer accounted for 9 of those 15 points, with a pair of triples and a ferocious and-1 jam that you will very likely see on the highlight reels.

For the night, White posted 15 points in 22 minutes off the bench, knocked down some timely 3-pointers and provided fans with a candidate for dunk of the year.

The team’s leading scorer, Thijs De Ridder, struggled with his shot — 1 for 8 FG, 0 for 2 from downtown, 3 of 6 from the free-throw line — finishing with just 5 points. Fellow first-year Chance Mallory also didn’t have his best night offensively (2 for 9 FG, 0 for 2 from deep), but filled the shooting cracks with 6 assists, a game-high 5 steals, 4 rebounds and a block to go with his 6 points.

Another Virginia freshman, Johann Grünloh, posted 8 points, a team-high 8 rebounds (5 offensive), a block and a steal. Devin Tillis was also perfect on all four of his field-goal attempts and added 10 points off the bench.

Maryland, led by former Virginia Tech head coach Buzz Williams, got within six points with plenty of time left (53-47 with 8:00 on the clock) before Hall caught fire.

The BYU transfer scored 11 points in a row for the Hoos, as his own personal 11-2 scoring run pushed the lead to 15. White added another 3-ball, and a Mallory jumper with 1:21 left made it 75-61, but the Terps had one final push, whittling it back down to 77-70 with 14 seconds left on a 3-pointer by UVA transfer Elijah Saunders (the team’s second-leading scorer last season), but it wasn’t enough in the end.

On the night, the Hoos shot 45 percent from the field (30 for 66), including 35 percent from 3-point range (7 of 20), and shot 62 percent from the free-throw line (13 for 21). UVA was outrebounded, 41-34, but recorded 22 points off of 19 Terrapin turnovers, as the Hoos racked up 15 steals for the game. The Cavaliers, who gave it away 8 times, dominated in the paint, 44-12, and off the bench (38-25).

UVA has now taken nine of the last 10 matchups against the Terps. Maryland, which shot 41 percent from the field (22 for 54) and from long distance (12 for 29), was led by senior guard David Coit, who scored all 15 of his points in the second half.

Two other Terps finished in double figures — Myles Rice had a dozen points and Saunders produced 10 in his first trip back to Charlottesville, where his former squad is now a perfect 7-0 to start the season.

Team Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

• UVA improved to 10-1
• UVA is 7-0 at John Paul Jones Arena
• UVA had 15 steals, most since 15 vs. Florida on Nov. 10, 2023
• UVA has scored 80 or more points in 10 games
• UVA is 58-1 when scoring 80 or more points since 2009-10
• UVA is 47-10 in its last 57 home contests
• UVA is 111-11 in non-league action at JPJ since 2009-10
• UVA used a 15-2 run to gain a 48-37 lead
• UVA had a 17-0 running spanning halftime
• UVA’s 24 points in the first half marked a season low (37 vs. Dayton)
• UVA’s 24 first half points were lowest since 24 in second half at Louisville on Jan. 4, 2025
• UVA limited Maryland to 19 points in the first half, tying for season low (vs. Hampton)
• UVA led 7-0 before Maryland’s first points at 15:04
• Maryland had a pair of 9-0 runs in the first half
• UVA answered with a 13-0 run to close the half and lead 24-19
• UVA’s 27.3 percent first half shooting (9 of 33) marked a season low for a first half
• UVA forced four shot clock violations

Series Notes

• Virginia has won nine of the last 10 meetings vs. Maryland
• UVA is 77-108 all-time against the Terrapins, including a 47-41 in Charlottesville
• UVA has scored 76 or more points in each of the last three contests vs. Maryland
• UVA is 3-0 vs. Maryland since the Terps joined the Big Ten
• UVA is 115-135 all-time against current Big Ten opponents

Player Notes

• Double Figure Scorers: Dallin Hall (20), Jacari White (15). Devin Tillis (10)
• Hall (8 of 8 FGs) had a season-high 20 points and team-high six assists
• Hall reached double figures for the second time (36th career)
• White reached double figures for the eighth time at UVA (58th career)
• White (3 3-pointers) has multiple 3-pointers in nine games
• Tillis reached double figures for the second time at UVA (52nd career)
• Chance Mallory recorded five steals and has 11 steals in the last two games
• Thijs De Ridder had a season-high two blocks
• All nine UVA players who saw action scored in the game
• UVA started Hall, De Ridder, Malik Thomas, Sam Lewis and Johann Grünloh for the 11th straight game

UP NEXT

Virginia has a short turnaround before taking the JPJ floor Monday night against American (6 p.m., ACC Network) in the final tuneup before conference play begins.