By Jerry Ratcliffe

American hero John Wayne lived by a simple philosophy when it came to sticky situations: Always throw the first punch, because there might not be a second.

Ryan Odom’s brunch bunch used that approach for Saturday morning’s 11-a.m. tipoff against NC State in Raleigh. Unlike Virginia’s sluggish start that led to a triple-overtime loss to rival Virginia Tech on New Year’s Eve, the Cavaliers jumped all over State’s Wolfpack on their home floor and rarely let up in a 76-61 romp.

UVA (12-2, 1-1) bolted to a 12-4 lead and expanded it to a 30-13 cushion, fueled by Sam Lewis, who supplied 15 of those early points. Lewis finished the half with 20 as the Cavaliers coasted to a 40-20 bulge at the break.

Meanwhile, the Wolfpack (10-5, 1-1) lost starting point guard Tre Holloman midway through the first half when he rolled an ankle.

State rallied out of the locker room, putting together an 11-0 run, and cut UVA’s lead to 42-31.

It didn’t take long for Odom to blow his top when a late whistle went against UVA center Ugonna Onyenso, who was called for fouling State’s Ven-Allen Lubin on an attempted dunk. At that point, the Cavaliers had been called for five fouls in a little more than three minutes into the half, while the Wolfpack had only one foul.

Perhaps Odom was still stewing from the lopsided foul calls in Blacksburg (Tech took 41 foul shots to UVA’s 15) and wasn’t going to allow such a disparity to repeat in Raleigh. He was definitely upset with the Cavaliers’ slow second-half start against the Wolfpack, and the foul on Onyenso came extremely late, setting off the fireworks.

Odom was called for a technical foul and was restrained by assistant coaches in the process.

State made two technical foul shots and two free throws to draw within 44-35 with 16:41 to play.

“I was just irritated at quite a few things at that point,” Odom said afterward. “Irritated at my team, alright, irritated, and I shouldn’t do like that, shouldn’t be something that I do. But the guys responded.”

Indeed they did.

UVA went on a 14-7 scoring blitz, including three buckets by Devon Tillis and three more by Thijs De Ridder for a 58-42 lead. The Cavaliers blew the door open with four triples within a three-minute span for a 74-47 advantage with more than six minutes to play.

“Our guys needed a jolt of energy there and I think they did a nice job of responding,” Odom said.

Lewis finished the game with a career-high 23 points, followed by De Ridder’s 13, Malik Thomas 13, Tillis 10.

Virginia shot 50 percent for the game (26 for 52) and rediscovered their 3-point accuracy (13 of 33), outrebounded the Wolfpack 36-24 and held State to only 36-percent shooting from the field and 25 percent from the arc. In the process, UVA held State’s Darrion Williams, the ACC preseason player of the year, to 3 of 8 shooting and 7 points.

“We knew they were going to come at us and the key was how are we going to respond when they do?” Odom said. “I think the response was excellent. Let’s meet toughness with toughness and let’s get better and be more together and trust and not defer and be confident. When you have a shot, take it. When you have the drive, take it.”

State’s Will Wade was impressed with Virginia’s effort.

“Give Virginia credit,” Wade said. “They bounced back after a tough game on Wednesday. It’s what you have to do in conference play. They had a lot of poise.

“They did to us what we like to do to other teams. They pressed us. We were getting into offense late in the clock. We were a little discombobulated. They attacked our press very well and we had to adjust our press at halftime.”

Odom said that Virginia played a slower lineup predominantly in Blacksburg with De Ridder, Tillis and either Onyenso or Johann Grünloh (two seven-footers), not a lineup that he had played “a ton,” although did use those combinations at times Saturday morning in Raleigh.

Guard Chance Mallory was coming off a bout with the flu and UVA is missing scorer Jacari White.

“That’s not excuses (for losing to Tech), it’s just the facts of what happened in that particular game,” Odom said in retrospect. “And then it’s three overtimes.”

On Lewis’ scoring breakout (8 of 12 field goals, 5 of 9 from the arc, 3 of 8 at the line):

“We don’t always have a first option quite honestly,” Odom said. “We do have a leading scorer. Everywhere I’ve coached, it’s all the open guys, the go-to-guy, and certainly we run plays for specific guys at times, but it’s more about moving the ball. The ball will find you and it’s your turn. Sam was ready and his teammates found him and he knocked them down.”

UVA returns home and hosts California on Wednesday (9-p.m. tip).

Team Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

• Virginia improved to 12-2, 1-1 ACC
• Head coach Ryan Odom recorded his first ACC win at UVA
• UVA went 13 of 33 from 3-point range
• UVA has made 11 or more 3-pointers in eight games
• UVA attempted 30 or more 3-pointers for the sixth time
• UVA’s 8-0 run in the second half gave the Cavaliers a 66-44 lead
• NC State outscored UVA 15-4, which included an 11-0 run, to start the second half
• UVA led 40-20 at the half, shooting 50 percent (13 of 26) and drilling 8 of 19 3-point attempts
• UVA also shot 50 percent (13 of 26) in the second half
• UVA shot 50 percent (26 of 52) overall, improving to 7-0 when shooting 50 percent or better
• UVA won the rebound battle 36-24

Series Notes

• Virginia is 72-87 all-time vs. NC State in the series that dates to 1912-13
• UVA’s 76 points were its most vs. the Wolfpack since March 14, 2019 (76-56 win)
• UVA has a two-game win streak in the series
• UVA is 25-40 against the Wolfpack in Raleigh, including a 10-9 mark at Lenovo Center (formerly PNC Arena)
• UVA is 14-9 all-time at Lenovo Center

Player Notes

• Double Figure Scorers: Sam Lewis (23), Thijs De Ridder (14), Malik Thomas (13), Devin Tillis (10)
• Lewis matched a career high with 23 points
• Lewis scored 20 of his 23 points in the first half
• Lewis scored UVA’s first six points and 12 of the first 15 points
• Lewis made a career-best five 3-pointers
• Lewis reached double figures for the seventh time (40th career)
• Thomas had a season-high seven rebounds
• Thomas reached double figures for the ninth time (64th career)
• De Ridder reached double figures for the 11th time
• Tillis reached double figures for the ninth time (53rd career)
• Johann Grünloh (2 blocks) has 10 multi-block games
• UVA started Dallin Hall, De Ridder, Grünloh, Thomas and Lewis for the 13th time
• Jacari White missed his third consecutive game with a wrist injury