By Scott Ratcliffe

In a game that featured 51 combined fouls and 60 free throws, Virginia outlasted Northwestern, 83-78, on Friday at the Skechers Greenbrier Tip-Off in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.

Ryan Odom’s Cavaliers moved to 5-0 on the season with the win, and it required an eye-popping 30-for-36 performance at the free-throw line (83 percent) to do so. The Wildcats (4-1) made 17 of 24 from the stripe.

Thijs De Ridder led all scorers with 26 points to go along with 8 rebounds and a block, but fouled out with 5:44 to play, as UVA trailed by two points following a Johann Grünloh alley-oop jam. Dallin Hall sank a huge 3-pointer with 2:29 remaining that capped a 10-2 run and gave the Wahoos a 74-70 advantage.

Northwestern guard Jayden Reid drew a pair of fouls on the Wildcats’ next two trips down the floor, knocking down 3 of 4 free throws to cut the Virginia lead to one, 74-73, with 1:40 on the clock.

First-year guard Chance Mallory, who matched his career high with 16 points, joined De Ridder on the bench on the latter foul, and it was up to the rest of their teammates to lock up the victory. The Hoos misfired on three field-goal attempts on the ensuing trip, but kept possession with offensive rebounds, leading to a Northwestern foul with 1:01 to go.

Hall calmly stepped to the foul line and buried a pair, pushing the lead to 76-73.

“We knew it was going to be a battle,” Odom said afterwards.

The Wildcats went for the tie, kicking it out to Arrinten Page in the corner for a 3-point try, but Grünloh skied and blocked the attempt, as Hall recovered the loose ball and converted on two more freebies on the other end to make it 78-73.

Northwestern star forward Nick Martinelli couldn’t get his shot to fall on the next trip down, and Hall headed back to the charity stripe with the Cavalier fans in attendance loudly chanting, “U-V-A! U-V-A!”

“The crowd obviously was a pro-Virginia crowd, and that really helped us and gave us a lift multiple times throughout,” said Odom of the unique ballroom atmosphere.

Hall split his free throws to make it a two-possession affair, 79-73, before the Wildcats knocked down another triple to cut it back to three with 8.8 ticks showing.

Devin Tillis, who was making his Virginia debut after sitting out the first four contests, struggled to inbound the ball and was forced to burn the team’s final timeout.

The Hoos successfully inbounded the ball to Malik Thomas, and the San Francisco transfer went 4 for 4 at the line across the last 8.1 seconds to seal the victory.

De Ridder scored 17 points by halftime and was having his way down low against the Wildcats, but picked up his third foul at the 17:46 mark of the second half. He then was whistled for his fourth personal with 8:21 remaining.

Mallory put on a solid all-around performance, scoring 10 of his points in the second half. He supplied highlight-worthy plays on both ends of the floor, highlighted by an interception in the backcourt that led to a bucket — the Hoos’ second in 13 seconds — and gave his team a 36-30 lead in the opening half.

Later, Mallory lobbed up a perfect alley-oop pass to Grünloh, who flushed it down hard with two hands. The Charlottesville native went 9 for 10 at the foul line to lead the way, matching a game high with 8 rebounds.

In addition, De Ridder was 8 of 9 at the stripe, while Thomas (14 points) was 7 of 8 and Hall (11 points) was 5 for 6.

Virginia shot just 38 percent for the contest (24 for 64), including 21 percent from downtown (5 of 24). The Wildcats went 27 for 58 (47 percent) from the field and 7 for 16 from long range (44 percent).

UVA dominated Northwestern on the boards, 49-25, pulling down 21 on the offensive end, which led to 18 second-chance points.

Reid paced the Wildcats with 25 points, while Page added 20. Martinelli finished with 9 points on 3-of-12 shooting, snapping a streak of 30 straight games in double figures.

Team Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

• UVA is 5-0 for the first time since starting 8-0 in 2022-23
• Ryan Odom is the first UVA coach to start his tenure 5-0
• UVA has scored 80 or more points in its first five games for the first time in school history
• UVA scored 80 or more points in five straight games for the first time since seven straight in 2001 (Florida State, Missouri, North Carolina, Clemson, Maryland, Wake Forest and NC State)
• UVA is 115-135 all-time against current Big Ten opponents
• UVA is 5-0 when leading at halftime
• UVA went on an 8-0 run to gain a 63-61 lead at 9:19 of the second half
• Northwestern started the second half on a 19-8 run to gain a 55-48 lead at 14:30
• UVA used a 24-13 rebound advantage to gain a 40-36 lead at the half
• UVA held its largest first half lead of eight (40-32) at 1:10
• Northwestern used a 7-0 run to gain a 17-10 lead at 12:07 of the first half
• UVA held a 49-25 rebound advantage and went 30 of 36 from the free throw line

Series Notes

• Virginia holds a 4-0 advantage against Northwestern in a series that dates back to 2004-05
• The teams met at a neutral site for the first time with the other three career meetings coming in the former ACC/Big Ten Challenge

Player Notes

• Double Figure Scorers: Thijs De Ridder (26), Chance Mallory (16), Malik Thomas (14), Dallin Hall (11)
• De Ridder scored 17 of his career-high 26 points in the first half
• De Ridder tallied his fourth 20-point effort in five games
• De Ridder fouled out with 5:44 left in the game
• De Ridder reached double figures for the fourth time at UVA
• Mallory reached double figures for the third time with a season-high 16 points
• Mallory set season high in rebounds (8), free throws (9) and free throws attempted (10)
• Mallory fouled out with 1:40 left in the game
• Thomas reached double figures for the fourth time at UVA (59 career)
• Thomas’ consecutive free throw streak ended at 36 dating back to last season at San Francisco
• Hall reached double figures for the second time at UVA (36 career)
• Devin Tillis made his UVA debut after missing four games with a knee injury
• UVA started Hall, Thomas, Johann Grünloh, Sam Lewis and De Ridder for the fifth straight game

UP NEXT

The Hoos will remain at the Greenbrier to face Butler at 2 p.m. on Sunday (CBS Sports Network).