CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Two pigeons landed on a basketball court. They looked at the scoreboard, saw No. 9 Virginia leading No. 12 Arkansas by 15 points with just over two minutes to play, and decided to fly off. Nothing to see in the final minutes at Capital One Arena on Sunday in Washington, D.C. A most-impressive early season performance by Ryan Odom’s team had made sure of that.

In truth, the Cavaliers had finished off John Calipari’s Razorbacks long before the two birds briefly delayed the game with 2:09 left by fluttering down onto the court. The turning point game with 11:51 left in the first half and Arkansas up by a point, when ACC Preseason Player of the Year Thijs De Ridder, who had been sitting with two early fouls, returned to the court.

De Ridder promptly sank a 3-pointer – one of 12 UVA hit Sunday – grabbed an offensive rebound and dished an assist inside to Johann Grunloh. That started a run that saw Virginia outscore Arkansas 34-14 before the buzzer signaled halftime. The Cavaliers (3-0) led by 19 on their way to a 91-72 neutral site power conference victory.

“We weren’t ready for that kind of team,” Calipari said. “They’re a top 10 team, maybe better.”

De Ridder scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season, as all five of UVA’s starters reached double figures in points. Sam Lewis scored 16, Grunloh and Chance Mallory had 15 each and Nolan Adekunle turned in his strongest game with the program, finishing with 13. Virginia scored 24 points off 15 Arkansas turnovers and converted 19 offensive rebounds into 28 second-chance points.

The Razorbacks managed just six points off UVA turnovers and finished with only 13 fast-break points, as the Cavaliers’ transition defense showed up in a big way.

That was a major concern for Odom going into this game. He criticized Virginia’s transition defense in Friday night’s 97-72 home win over Northeastern. And Saturday, the coaching staff showed the team video clips of it failing to get back on defense against Northeastern, spliced with highlights of Arkansas scoring in transition, a visual warning of what could happen against Arkansas.

Instead, UVA came ready to play at both ends of the floor, notching the kind of win that ramps up expectations in November and fills out an NCAA tournament resume in March. For Odom, the win was encouraging but not his club’s ceiling.

“We’re not a finished product at this point,” Odom said. “Shame on us if we stay where we’re at right now.”

While the Cavaliers have an established and effective starting lineup, a group that combined for 75 of the team’s 91 points Sunday, Odom is still figuring out his bench and rotation, mixing and matching lineups and minute distribution. When De Ridder went out with the early fouls, UVA turned to St. Louis transfer Kalu Anya. Anya scored three points, had six rebounds and three assists in 18 minutes.

With Mallory playing 32 minutes, and Lewis handling the ball when Mallory was out, backup point guard Jan Vide, a Loyola Marymount transfer, logged just one minute against Arkansas.

Mallory, Lewis, Grunloh and Adekunle all played at least 32 minutes Sunday. De Ridder played 24 despite the long stretch on the bench in the first half.

Those are all things for Odom and his staff to figure out. But while they’re doing that, they have a team that took care of the ball well Sunday (just nine turnovers), moved it well (18 assists), knocked down shots from 3-point range (12 for 32 from beyond the arc), and crashed the glass (40 rebounds, including 19 offensive ones).

Sunday was the first of a number of high profile non-conference games Odom scheduled to challenge this veteran roster. The Cavaliers still play at Big Ten Maryland (Friday), host Kentucky (Dec. 2) and face UConn at Madison Square Garden in New York (Dec. 20).

“I think it prepares us for what’s coming after in January, February, even March,” Grunloh said. “We got good preparation for the big games at the end.”

And, Odom said, his players learned one other important lesson.

“D.C. pigeons are tough,” he said.