By Scott Ratcliffe

In its first true road contest of the Ryan Odom era, the Virginia men’s basketball team put together a complete, statement performance late Wednesday night, cruising past host Texas, 88-69, as part of the ACC/SEC Challenge in Austin.

The Cavaliers (7-1) scorched the nets throughout the evening, shooting 54 percent (28 of 52) from the field, including 50 percent from downtown (12 for 24), and made 20 of 29 free throws (69 percent).

The Wahoos led by as many as 28 points after they built a 20-point advantage by halftime, and then maintained a comfortable 20-points-plus lead for the majority of the second half.

A Dallin Hall 3-pointer gave Virginia a 46-25 lead at the break, and just when it felt like Texas would make a run after cutting it to 18, Ugonna Onyenso scored a pair of buckets — including a one-handed, alley-oop flush from Jacari White — to make it 59-37, and that’s about as close as it got the rest of the way.

After Odom pulled his starters, Vanderbilt transfer and Charlottesville native Carter Lang put on the finishing touches with his first basket of the season, a 3-ball right in front of a jubilant Cavalier bench, with 1:35 to play.

UVA used a 12-0 run — all from beyond the arc — to turn an early 9-8 deficit into a 20-9 advantage, and never looked back. Chance Mallory hit the first of four consecutive UVA triples (followed by Onyenso, and then two back-to-back by White) to establish the early cushion. Later in the first half, Johann Grünloh got loose and scored on consecutive wide-open dunks to stretch the lead to 27-13.

The Hoos got a big boost in bench scoring (38-24), as Mallory finished with a game-high 16 points (2 for 2 from deep, 8 of 9 from the charity stripe), while White posted all 10 of his points in the first half (3 for 3 from long range). Onyenso added another 9 points, 2 assists, a block and a steal in 21 minutes off the bench.

Grünloh led the starting unit with 15 points (6 for 7 FG; 2 of 3 from 3-point range) to go with 4 rebounds, a block and a steal. Rounding out the Hoos in double digits were Thijs De Ridder (13 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists) and Malik Thomas, who scored 9 of his 11 points after halftime.

UVA racked up 18 assists, 30 points in the paint, 6 fast-break points, 12 second-chance points and 8 points off of 7 Texas giveaways.

The Longhorns (6-3) were limited to 41-percent shooting (24 for 59 FG) overall and 21 percent from 3-point land (4 of 19), although they did edge the Hoos in the rebound department, 35-34.

Dailyn Swain led Texas with 15 points, 10 boards and 4 assists, while Jordan Pope was the only other Longhorn to reach double figures with 10 points.

Team Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

• UVA improved to 7-1
• UVA is 2-1 all-time in the ACC/SEC Challenge
• UVA is 2-1 in neutral site contests
• UVA has scored 80 or more points in seven games and is 55-1 when scoring 80 or more points since 2009-10
• UVA drilled nine 3-pointers (18 attempts) en route to a 46-27 halftime lead
• A 9-0 run gave UVA a 20-point first half lead at 43-23
• UVA’s 12-0 run on 3-pointers by Chance Mallory, Ugonna Onyenso and Jacari White (2) gave UVA a 20-9 lead
• UVA had eight players (Dallin Hall, Chance Mallory, Jacari White, Ugonna Onyenso, Johann Grünloh, Thijs De Ridder, Carter Lang and Malik Thomas) make at least one 3-pointer
• UVA (12 3-pointers) has made 11 or more 3-pointers in five games
• UVA had 38 bench points
• UVA shot 53.8 percent and is 4-0 when shooting 50 percent or better

Series Notes

• Virginia is 1-0 all-time vs. Texas

Player Notes

• Leading Scorers: Chance Mallory (16), Johann Grünloh (15), Thijs De Ridder (15), Malik Thomas (11), Jacari White (10)
• Mallory reached double figures for the sixth time
• Mallory matched a season high with 16 points
• Grünloh reached double figures for the fourth time
• De Ridder reached double figures for the seventh time at UVA
• White reached double figures for the sixth time at UVA (56th career)
• Thomas reached double figures for the sixth time (61st career)
• Carter Lang made his first career 3-pointer
• UVA started Dallin Hall, Sam Lewis, Thomas, Grünloh and De Ridder and for the eighth straight game

UP NEXT

The Cavaliers will head straight to Charlotte for Saturday’s noon matchup with Dayton (ESPN2).