CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Monday’s season-opening win didn’t look exactly how new coach Ryan Odom wants his victories at Virginia to look – except, of course, for the final score. 

UVA struggled from 3-point range and at the free-throw line, fouled too much and didn’t share the ball the way Odom has emphasized this offseason.

Against an overmatched Rider squad, it didn’t much matter. The Cavaliers rolled 87-53.

But down the line, Odom knows it will.

“I tell my wife every year, ‘It’ll be March before you know it,'” Odom said. “It happens literally like that. Everybody right now is hoping they have a special season. You have to work to have it.”

Monday night, Belgian power forward Thijs DeRidder debuted with a double-double, scoring 21 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, numbers that might have been even more impressive if not for three first-half fouls. 

He became the first UVA player to post a 20-and-10 game since Jayden Gardner in 2023 against Clemson.

“I’ve been playing against much older and stronger guys overseas,” DeRidder said. “That helped me a lot today.”

Odom’s signature full-court pressure defense forced Rider into 14 turnovers, leading to 22 UVA points. 

Five players scored in double figures and Virginia totaled 14 assists.

Perhaps most impactful, the Cavaliers grabbed 22 offensive rebounds, leading to 26 second-chance points. As Villanova coach Kevin Willard did after the exhibition game, Rider coach Kevin Baggett took note of the physical toughness this year’s UVA team brings to the floor.

“They just whupped us on the glass,” Baggett said.

The home team with the new-look roster and old-style uniforms took a quick double-digit lead and led wire to wire. 

And while there was plenty for the new coaching staff to critique and much for the new players to improve upon, – from 24 personal fouls to 15 missed free-throws to a 8 for 30 showing from beyond the 3-point arc – there was also plenty to be encouraged by.

With a roster chock full of capable leading scorers, UVA’s players talked all preseason that anyone could have a big game on any given night. On opening night, it was DeRidder who filled that role, but he wasn’t alone.

German center Johann Grunloh had 12 points and 7 rebounds and freshman guard Chance Mallory, the former St. Anne’s-Belfield star, added 11.

Sam Lewis, a transfer wing from Toledo, scored the season’s first points, finishing a nifty two-handed floater 1:42 into the night. 

Virginia used a 12-2 run to seize control of the contest, going up 14-4  making sure Odom’s debut would be more coronation than competition, though the Broncos stayed within relative striking distance throughout the first half.

The Cavaliers went to the locker room ahead 42-32 having played an odd but effective first 20 minutes. 

Unlike their exhibition win over Villanova, Virginia protected the basketball, committing just two turnovers before the break. Unlike the tune-up against the Wildcats, UVA fouled and struggled from beyond the arc.

It was whistled for 12 first-half fouls and went 2-for-19 from 3-point range, at one point missing four tries from beyond the arc on a single possession. 

“Shots weren’t falling in the first. At halftime, we talked a little bit about the decisions we were making,” Odom said. “The shots weren’t completely contested, but ones if we made another decision, maybe another guy gets a completely open look.”

After the break, UVA did shoot and share the ball more effectively. 

Mallory, the local product, canned back-to-back 3-pointers, part of a 15-0 run that put Virginia ahead 70-35 with 8:15 left to play.

That moment drew the biggest cheer of the night from a surprisingly sparse opening night crowd at John Paul Jones Arena of 12,121.

Last year’s opener, a 65-56 win over Campbell, was played with the fans – and really the entire program – still in a malaise, shell-shocked by former coach Tony Bennett’s October retirement. 13,414 fans turned out for that one, the debut of Ron Sanchez’s brief stint as interim coach. 

Monday night was the beginning of Odom reshaping his place in Virginia basketball history, one step away from the UMBC upset he authored against UVA in the 2018 NCAA Tournament, and one step toward whatever the Odom era will hold for the Cavaliers.

 

NOTES: Devin Tillis was on crutches on the UVA sideline. Odom said the transfer wing suffered a knee injury in the exhibition against Villanova that “blew up” the next morning. Odom said Tillis underwent knee surgery but could return late this season. … 6-foot-9 freshman center Silas Barksdale did not play in the game, preserving the possibility that he could redshirt.