Biggest Takeaways from Virginia's 81-62 Win Over NC Central

Virginia forward Thijs De Ridder (28) has his shot blocked by Vanderbilt center Jalen Washington (13) during the second half of their exhibition game at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. | Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

1. The Frontcourt Set the Tone.

Thijs De Ridder and Johann Grunloh controlled the night. De Ridder led all scorers with 20 on 6-for-10 and 3-for-4 from three, plus five boards and calm decisions. Grunloh cleaned the glass with 11 rebounds and swatted seven shots. Add Ugonna Onyenso’s 10 points and 7 rebounds in 20 minutes, and you get a front line that owned the paint and the backboard. Virginia finished +14 on the glass (48–34) with 20 offensive rebounds and 20 second-chance points. That’s an identity you can bring anywhere.

2. Fast starts, messy finishes (and pressure handling)

Virginia led by as many as 31 and ripped off an 11–0 run in each half. Then things got loose. Shot quality dipped, the ball stuck, and turnovers stacked up. The Hoos still posted 22 assists on 28 makes, but 12 giveaways and a late scoring lull kept the door cracked and destroyed any chance of the Hoos covering the spread. Free throws didn’t help at 11-for-19. The positive: Malik Thomas steadied it with 12 and 6 assists, hitting timely threes to stop the bleeding. The next step is simple: organize quickly under pressure, get into action faster, and finish halves.

3. Spacing, pace, and the bench (plus the double-big look)

The margin came from the perimeter and in transition. Virginia hit 14 threes at 38.9% and scored 18 fast-break points, which is exactly the spacing and pace this staff wants. Sam Lewis and Thomas combined for five threes and kept the floor open for De Ridder’s inside-out game. The bench produced, not just survived. Chance Mallory gave 9 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists, broke pressure, and got UVA into early offense. Jacari White went 3-for-5 from deep for 9. That second unit poured in 32 points and kept the energy up.

We also saw the twin-tower minutes with Onyenso and Grunloh together. Odom said they’ve only repped it a handful of times, but he liked the early returns and wants to keep exploring it, though he's staggered media breaks so neither is grinding through two long stretches. The idea is simple: keep a rim-protector on the floor at all times while playing faster behind full-court, man pressure that’s designed to drain the clock more than gamble for steals. You saw both bigs’ profiles: Grunloh’s textbook “wall-ups” at the rim and Onyenso’s swat-and-erase style. When those two share the floor with two true ballhandlers (he mentioned liking the dual-PG look), the spacing stays decent, the glass is secure, and the press has fresh legs. That’s a real card UVA can play as the competition climbs.

Will it translate to ACC play?

Mostly, yes. The rebounding edge, frontcourt depth, and three-point volume scale. What doesn’t is how we handled end-of-half pressure. ACC guards will press longer, trap harder, and turn loose possessions into 6–0 bursts. Clean up late-clock organization and value the ball, and this approach carries. Keep leaking turnovers and missing key shots against pressure, and leads won’t hold.