PHILADELPHIA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Virginia got turned around before the opening tip of Friday’s first-round NCAA Tournament game against Wright State, with half the Cavaliers facing an American flag hanging from the rafters and the other half turning around to face the flags carried out to mid-court.

Once the ball was tipped, UVA almost didn’t get straightened out in time. 

“There’s a lot of things that you have to get adjusted to in the March Madness,” senior guard Malik Thomas said with a smile. “So, that was one of them.”

Jacari White scored 26 points, going 6 for 8 from 3-point range, as 3-seed Virginia shook off 14-seed Wright State down the stretch for a 82-73 win, its first NCAA win since claiming the national championship in 2019. 

“I just really didn’t want to lose today,” White said. “I want to last as long as possible.”

Sam Lewis scored 12 points for the Cavaliers, who had lost three straight tournament games, Malik Thomas added 11 and Thijs DeRidder had 10.

Johann Grunloh, playing with his right wrist in a cast, scored eight points, had seven rebounds and blocked three shots, including a key Wright attempt with 2:49 to play. 

The Raiders led 70-67 with 5:32 to go, before UVA scored 11 straight to take control 78-70 with a minute remaining.

“We understand we didn’t play our best basketball, and we have to give credit to Wright State,” senior guard Dallin Hall said. “They made us uncomfortable on both ends of the floor. But we’re gonna learn from it.”

Virginia held a 39-24 rebounding edge, outscored the Raiders 19-8 on second-chance points and 28-16 on points in the paint.

“We knew we had to free guys up to shoot rhythm threes, and we did some different things,” Wright State coach Clint Sargent said. “But really I thought the game kind of came down to the glass and those extra possessions. That, obviously with their size and rim protection, that’s a lot to handle for us.”

Led by White, UVA set a program record knocking down 13 3-pointers.

Both DeRidder and White struggled against Duke in the ACC title game.

DeRidder was 1 for 6 shooting with five points and three turnovers and White played just 10 minutes, finishing with six points. 

But the duo bounced back Friday.

UVA continued its uncomfortable tradition of having unlikely teams and players shoot the lights out against it in the NCAA Tournament. 

This time it was Wright State – and most amazingly, Michael Imariagbe – in that role.

The Raiders averaged seven 3-pointers a game entering the contest, then promptly drained eight in the first half.

Imariagbe’s success was even more unexpected. He had only shot five 3-pointers before Friday, and only hit one of those.

But against the Cavaliers, the 6-foot-7 forward hit five.

“He was he was not on a scouting report as a shooter. I’ll tell you that,” Thomas said.

How did the scouting report breakdown Imariagbe?

“Not that,” Hall said. “Not prime Steph Curry on the scout. But credit to him, it looked good. You know, all of them were swishes.”

Virginia hadn’t won an NCAA Tournament game since cutting down the nets in Minneapolis after claiming the 2019 national championship. In three NCAA trips since then the Cavaliers lost in the first round to Ohio in 2021 and Furman in 2023 and in the First Four to Colorado State in 2024. 

(They played in the NIT in 2022 and missed the postseason entirely last year.) 

Wright State, which went into Friday averaging seven 3-pointers a game, knocked down eight in the first half on its way to a 43-38 lead. It won the turnover battle 7-1 in the half.

UVA settled in during the second half but still could not get any separation from the Raiders until the final minutes.

“Our guys did a nice job throughout the game of adjusting, and just hanging in there,” said Ryan Odom, who joined Terry Holland and Tony Bennett as the only coaches in program history to lead UVA to 30-win seasons. “And that’s what you’ve got to do in this tournament. It’s not going to be perfect. It’s not meant to be perfect.”

Virginia awaits the winner of Friday’s game between Miami of Ohio and Tennessee.