CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – A ragged start had No. 9 Virginia in a tighter-than-anticipated tussle with lightly regarded Northeastern on Friday night. The visitors led for the first nine minutes of play.

But unlike many teams here in the opening weeks of the college basketball season, UVA knew exactly where to turn.

Coach Ryan Odom has pointed to four leaders on the team since the summer, and that group lifted the Cavaliers to a 97-72 win.

“I thought our guys did a nice job of fighting through some of that fatigue, sticking together when it wasn’t going great, and found a way to turn it in our favor,” Odom said.

Guards Sam Lewis and Chance Mallory each scored 20 points, forward Thijs De Ridder added 16 and center Johann Grunloh finished with 13 as UVA (2-0) outscored the Huskies (0-2) by 18 in the second half.

“The biggest thing with leadership is taking ownership for your own play,” Odom said. “That’s the first step. Each of the four guys that we consider to be our leaders, in their own way, did some of that tonight. Whether it was in the first half or the second half, they took it upon themselves to (say), ‘Hey, I’ve got to do better here.’”

Ahead just 38-31 at the half, Odom stressed effort, especially in transition defense and pursuing loose balls.

Mallory said Odom’s halftime message emphasized “just being us,” and said leading the team in that moment wasn’t difficult.

“Everybody was on board,” said Mallory, who had five assists and one turnover on the night. “We weren’t pulling people to try to follow us. Everybody knew what the job had to be for the second half, and we did it.”

This won’t be the last time UVA and its leadership are tested this season. It could very well happen Sunday when the Cavaliers play John Calipari’s 12th-ranked Arkansas team in Washington, D.C.

Leadership has been something Odom has been focusing on with the foursome of De Ridder, Grunloh, Lewis and Mallory.

For 30 minutes each week this preseason, he’s huddled with them in his office. Instead of X’s and O’s, Odom used the sessions to focus on one specific topic.

“Just learning how to be that professional leader for our group,” Lewis told Cville Right Now. “Because it’s going to take more than one guy to do it. So, he brings in four of us and we go in and talk about what it takes so we can lead this team to a championship.”

The players and coach spend about a half hour once a week talking about different leadership topics. Odom presents them with handouts, but for the most part, it’s a group discussion, designed to delve into different leadership styles and tactics.

“Talk about different themes like building trust, building credibility, also leading by example,” Grunloh told Cville Right Now. “Always different stories. It’s kind of like a discussion. Talk to him. Tell him our view. He tells us his view. And then just discuss what it’s really about.”

De Ridder said much of Odom’s material focuses on developing a tight-knit chemistry within the team and the leaders’ role in bringing out the best in each other and others.

“Just about unity, our team. How we can make our teammates better?” De Ridder told Cville Right Now. “How we can help them on the court, off the court? How we can be trustworthy with each other? How we can motivate them on the court and how we can help them, in general, on the court or off the court, and just try to be the correct leader for them?”

Part of that, undeniably, is through production. And the foursome has delivered in that area, so far.

Through two games, the quartet has scored 132 of the Cavaliers’ 186 points. Mallory leads the team in assists. Lewis is second, De Ridder is tied for third and Grunloh is tied for fifth.

Beyond statistics, Odom values leaders who set a standard for his teams. He said Mallory and Grunloh have been the most consistent players when it comes to diving on the court for loose balls. 

So Friday night, when Northeastern went up by five midway through the first half, it was no surprise that Mallory sparked UVA back into the game. He scored nine points in a stretch of 2:06. When that surge ended, Virginia led 25-20.

And when the Cavaliers outscored the Huskies 34-21 in the first 10 minutes of the second half, 28 of their points came from the four leaders. 

“Those four guys are the leaders of the team,” Odom said in the preseason. “We need everybody to lead in their own way.”