CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – With four key players back from last season’s 30-win campaign, expectations are high for Virginia basketball in 2026-27. The No. 9 Cavaliers did nothing to diminish the hype on opening night.

The headliners of this season’s squad wasted no time grabbing the spotlight in the 89-60 win over Drexel on Tuesday night at John Paul Jones Arena.

ACC Preseason Player of the Year Thijs De Ridder scored 12 of his game-high 24 points in the first 2:22 of the game, as the Cavaliers seized control against the Dragons and never let go.

“They didn’t do anything to surprise us,” Drexel coach Zach Spiker said afterward. “They just did it really well.”

UVA’s Big Four – De Ridder, Johann Grunloh, Sam Lewis and Chance Mallory – scored the team’s first 37 points of the game. No one else got on the scoreboard until backup point guard Jan Vide hit a jumper with 6:34 left in the half. That put the Cavaliers ahead 39-16. Virginia led 51-27 at the half. Only a sluggish first 10 minutes of the second half stopped UVA from hitting the 100-point mark.

“I was just really, really excited for the season,” De Ridder said. “Now, it’s finally begun.”

And no, pummeling a weak CAA team doesn’t mean the Cavaliers will be cutting down any nets in March. But on this night, Virginia looked worthy of the preseason hoopla.

De Ridder, who UVA coach Ryan Odom calls “a tank,” rolled over the overmatched Drexel frontcourt. He and Grunloh each grabbed nine rebounds on a night when even Virginia’s small lineups were bigger than its opponent. In all, returning players scored 72 of the Cavaliers’ 89 points.

As they did last year and all preseason, the Cavaliers were anything but shy from beyond the 3-point line. Virginia was 10 for 29 from behind the arc, with Lewis knocking down four 3-pointers and finishing with 20 points. De Ridder hit a pair of treys and four other players hit a shot from distance.

“I feel like we came out, just punched them in the face,” Lewis said. “Thijs came out really big for us. He just set the tone from the beginning. That’s just how we wanted to start the season.”

Odom has proclaimed that this year’s team has the ability to be more disruptive defensively than last year’s unit. His full-court pressure defensive system is designed to eat clock rather than force turnovers, but Tuesday night, the Cavaliers’ speed, length and athleticism did both. Drexel committed 21 turnovers, 18 coming off UVA steals. That was the most steals in JPJ history. Mallory led the team with four, while Adekunle, Lewis and Elijah Gertrude had three apiece.

“The goal is not to steal it, but when it’s there we want the guys to be aggressive and try to take it,” Odom said.

It was far from a perfect performance, of course. The second-half malaise helped Drexel pull within 61-44 midway through the second half. UVA committed 14 turnovers, including six by Mallory.

There was plenty to tighten up in a busy opening week for the team picked to finish second in the ACC. But also plenty to be encouraged by.

The Cavaliers have a second CAA matchup Friday at home against Northeastern before the curtain goes up on the first of several major non-conference matchups, Sunday’s date in Washington, D.C. against John Calipari’s Arkansas team.

“We have to get better,” Odom said. “We have to take care of the ball better than we did tonight if we want to be an elite team.”