By Scott Ratcliffe

Virginia withstood a valiant effort and overcame its own self-inflicted hiccups, relying on its depth, experience and defense down the stretch for a 70-66 victory over Ohio State in the Nashville Hoops Showdown at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday night.

The 15th-ranked Cavaliers (22-3) matched their longest winning streak of the season (six games) in the process, as they finished the nonconference portion of the schedule with a 12-1 mark against non-ACC opponents.

Things weren’t looking too great midway through the second half of Saturday’s neutral-court affair, as the Buckeyes (16-9) took a 59-53 lead on a Bruce Thornton layup.

Virginia had been losing the ball on careless turnovers, while Thornton had been slicing up the Cavalier defense on the other end, scoring 15 of the Buckeyes’ first 22 points out of the break — on a perfect 7-for-7 shooting — before UVA put the clamps down.

Whatever Ryan Odom and Co. said during the under-12 media timeout with 9:48 left worked, as the Cavaliers took control of the game, shutting things down for the OSU offense. UVA went on a 13-2 scoring run across the next nine minutes and change to lead 66-61 with less than a minute left.

While orange-clad UVA fans chanted, “Let’s go Wahoos,” during a timeout with 40.2 ticks showing and their team up by five points [66-61], it wasn’t quite over just yet.

Shortly thereafter, Ohio State’s Amare Bynum connected on a sidestep 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it a two-point contest with 31.2 seconds to go.

After Sam Lewis split a pair of free throws with 30.3 to play, it left the door open for Thornton, who did most of his damage after halftime, scoring 18 of the Buckeyes’ 27 second-half points up to that moment.

With the game on the line, Thornton pulled up for a jumper with 15 seconds remaining, and Ugonna Onyenso came through with the most important of his 4 blocks on the night.

Lewis was fouled and nailed a pair at the foul line to extend the Hoos’ lead to 69-64 with 11.5 to go before the Buckeyes tacked on a dunk with still 5.6 on the clock, and Chance Mallory was forced to burn a timeout on the ensuing inbounds pass.

When play resumed, Mallory was chased down and split a pair of two free throws for the final tally with 1.8 left.

As has become the case in several contests this season, UVA had to overcome a sloppy start, falling behind by as many as 11 points in the first half.

The Cavaliers responded to that double-digit deficit with a 9-0 scoring run, quickly trimming it to two.

From there, it was a back-and-forth remainder of the opening half, as the teams traded blows all the way to a 37-all tie at halftime.

For the game, the Hoos shot 43 percent from the field (21 for 49), 33 percent from downtown (6 of 18) and 69 percent at the charity stripe (22 for 32), outrebounding the Buckeyes by 14 (40-26). The “Bench Mob” outscored State’s reserves, 28-4.

Malik Thomas’ 13 points paced the Hoos, highlighted by a pair of key triples in the second half, while Lewis and Mallory each added a dozen. Onyenso finished with 8 points, an assist, a steal, and game-highs of 10 rebounds and 4 blocks.

OSU scored 16 points off of 12 UVA turnovers, and outscored the Cavaliers in the paint (36-28) and in transition (14-8). The Buckeyes made 27 of 60 field goals (45 percent), including 43 percent (6 of 14) from long range, and made 6 of 9 at the line (67 percent).

Thornton, who misfired on six of his final seven field-goal attempts across the last 10 minutes, still easily finished with a game-high 28 points on 12-for-21 shooting to lead the Buckeyes. Bynum added 15 points and Christoph Tilly posted 11.

Ohio State was playing without the services of second-leading scorer John Mobley Jr., who had started every game and was averaging 15 points per contest before injuring his wrist earlier in the week against USC.

Team Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

• No. 15 Virginia improved to 22-3
• UVA has a six-game win streak and seven-game road win streak
• Ryan Odom’s 22 wins are the most for a first-year head coach at UVA
• UVA is 10-2 away from home, including a 3-1 mark in neutral site games
• UVA’s 8-0 run gave the Hoos a 61-59 lead
• UVA was tied (37-37) at the half for the second straight game
• UVA shot 44.4 percent (12 of 27) and outrebounded OSU 21-12 in the first half
• UVA used a 9-0 run to cut the OSU lead to 17-15
• OSU used a 9-0 run to gain a 12-4 lead
• Virginia is 3-0 vs. the Big Ten in 2025-26
• UVA won the rebound battle, 40-26
• Ohio State’s Bruce Thornton’s 28 points were the third-most by a Cavalier opponent this season (Notre Dame’s Cole Certa – 34 points and Virginia Tech’s Ben Hammond – 30 points)

Series Notes

• Virginia is 4-3 all-time vs. Ohio State in a series that dates back to 1932
• UVA has a four-game win streak in the series
• UVA and OSU met for the first time at a neutral site

Player Notes

• Double Figure Scorers: Malik Thomas (13), Sam Lewis (12), Chance Mallory (12)
• Thomas has reached double figures in 17 games (72 career)
• Lewis has reached double figures in 14 games (47 career)
• Mallory has reached double figures in 16 games
• Ugonna Onyenso (4 blocks) has multiple blocks in 16 games
• Onyenso added eight points and 10 rebounds
• All nine Cavaliers who played scored in the game
• UVA started Dallin Hall, Thijs De Ridder, Johann Grünloh, Lewis and Thomas for the 24th game

UP NEXT

Virginia resumes ACC action on Wednesday in Atlanta against Georgia Tech. Tipoff from McCamish Pavilion is scheduled for 9 p.m. on ACC Network.

Saturday’s ACC Scoreboard

Virginia 70, Ohio State 66***
Duke 67, Clemson 54
Notre Dame 89, Georgia Tech 74
California 86, Boston College 75
North Carolina 79, Pitt 65
Florida State 92, Virginia Tech 69
Syracuse 79, SMU 78
Louisville 82, Baylor 71
Wake Forest 68, Stanford 63
Miami 77, NC State 76
*** — Nashville, Tenn.