By Jerry Ratcliffe
No one could have imagined 40 years ago that a young ball boy at University Hall would someday become Virginia’s head basketball coach.
Ryan Odom came full circle Monday night when that former ball boy notched his first victory in his UVA debut with an 87-53 romp of visiting Rider. The Cavaliers overcame a sluggish first-half performance offensively, turned up the intensity defensively to glide in the season opener.
It was an emotional night for Odom, whose father, Dave, was a longtime assistant coach for Terry Holland in the 1980s.
“Gratitude walking out of the tunnel … I think that was the first thing you think about,” Odom said after the win. “I’m really blessed to be here, to be the coach here. I tried to let that marinate in my head.”
The first half was a little more exciting than Odom would have preferred when UVA’s 3-point shooting was way off, an abysmal 10.5 percent (2 of 19), as the Cavaliers took a 42-32 lead into the locker room.
Virginia exploded in the second half, outscoring Rider 45-21, including an 18-3 run to get things jumpstarted. Odom cleared his bench and even his son, Owen, scored a bucket in the waning moments.
While his parents didn’t make it to the opener (his mom was under the weather), Odom’s wife, Lucy, was fired up to see her son score on such a special night.
The Cavaliers more resembled themselves after the break, converting 55.2 percent of their field-goal attempts and making 6 of 11 shots from the arc in the runaway win.
“We were taking some [shots in the first half] that were challenged, and maybe some were halfway challenged, but still, there were better opportunities out there,” Odom said. “We showed the guys a few of those at halftime so they could se it. A lot of times, if you settle for those slightly contested shots early, there are other opportunities out there that you’re missing.”
Odom boosted his arsenal of shooters’ confidence in the locker room, telling them, “Hey, you’re fine. We’re all good shooters here, so don’t hesitate. Let’s be mindful of the decisions.”
That instruction coming from a coach who has been known to stop practice and make a reluctant shooter do pushups as a reminder not to pass up a good shot.
Virginia’s defense picked up the pace as well in the second half, forcing 8 Rider turnovers and holding the Broncs to 24 percent shooting (6 for 25) over the final 20 minutes, in addition to 14 percent from the arc (1 of 7).
The Cavaliers’ frontcourt dominated, outscoring Rider 42-16 in the paint and winning the battle of the boards, 49-32.
UVA’s bigs — Thijs De Ridder, Johann Grunloh and Ugonna Onyenso — had their way, collectively putting up 38 points (De Ridder led all scorers with 21), 22 rebounds and 7 of the team’s 9 blocked shots.
“Physical,” Rider coach Kevin Baggett said of Virginia’s frontcourt. “We could have doubled the post a little bit more, but we didn’t want to give up a lot of threes. Our bigs did not do well tonight in terms of rebounding or scoring in the post.”
De Ridder was dominant with a 10-of-14 shooting performance and a double-double with 10 boards to lead five double-figure scorers for the Cavaliers. Grunloh added 12, while Sam Lewis, freshman Chance Mallory and Jacari White had 11 points each. Malik Thomas, who had led UVA in scoring in the two exhibition games against Vanderbilt and Villanova, had an off night, making just 1 of 10 shots.
While it was a special night for Odom, it was also special for Mallory, who grew up in Charlottesville and always dreamed of becoming a Cavalier.
“It was a surreal feeling,” said Mallory, who made 3 of 4 field-goal attempts (2 of 3 from the arc, including back-to-back 3’s at one juncture). “We played Villanova in an exhibition, but it wasn’t a real game, wasn’t stakes on it that affected our record. Lot of emotions, nervousness, excitement, just wanted to be out there and play.”
Mallory’s family was in the stands to watch the rookie contribute to the win. Not only did he put up some numbers, but impacted the game in other ways, too, particularly adding pressure from Odom’s fullcourt pressing defense, something Malloy was completely comfortable with.
“One of our goals is to pressure up court and Chance gave us a huge lift,” Odom commented.
The coach said he believed Virginia took a step forward defensively and the numbers backed up his thoughts.
One player missing in action was Devin Tillis, who underwent minor knee surgery following the Villanova exhibition. Odom said doctors believed taking care of the problem would give Tillis a much better chance at returning to the team.
Virginia returns to action on Friday with a 7 p.m. home game against NC Central.
Team Notes
Courtesy UVA Media Relations
- Head coach Ryan Odom recorded his first win at Virginia
- Odom improved to 6-5 in season-opening games
- UVA has won four straight season-opening games
- UVA is 26-2 in its last 28 season-openers
- The Cavaliers are 98-23 all-time in 121 season-opening games
- UVA is 105-11 at JPJ in non-conference play since 2009-10
- UVA outscored Rider 45-21 in the second half
- UVA started the second half on an 11-0 run to gain a 53-32 advantage
- UVA had a 15-0 run to gain a 70-35 lead at 7:22
- Rider scored its first point of the second stanza on a free throw at 13:55
- UVA started the game on a 14-4 run
- UVA had 22 offensive rebounds, most since 23 vs. Morgan State on Nov. 13, 2015
- UVA forced one shot clock violation
Player Notes
- Double Figure Scorers: Thijs De Ridder (21), Johann Grünloh (12), Chance Mallory (11), Sam Lewis (11), Jacari White (11)
- De Ridder added 10 rebounds for his first collegiate double-double
- Grünloh added seven rebounds and three blocks
- Dallin Hall had a team-high five assists
- Ugonna Onyenso added four blocks
- Owen Odom (2 points), Martin Carrere and Mallory made their collegiate debuts
- Malik Thomas, Carter Lang, De Ridder, Grünloh, Hall, Lewis, Onyenso and White made their UVA debuts
- UVA started Hall, Thomas, Lewis, De Ridder and Grünloh
- Elijah Gertrude (2 points) returned to the court after missing the 2024-25 season with a knee injury
