The Good, Bad and Ugly From UVA’s Victory Over NC State This Weekend

The Virginia Cavaliers are back on track after losing to Virginia Tech last week.

Dec 31, 2025; Blacksburg, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers guard Dallin Hall (30) drives the base line during the second overtime period at Cassell Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bishop-Imagn Images | Brian Bishop-Imagn Images

Now that the Virginia Cavaliers sealed another win this weekend, this time over NC State with a score of 76-61, they brought their overall record up to 12-2. To date, their only losses have been to Butler (8-73) and Virginia Tech (95-85).

Their latest matchup did not come without a challenge, but the Cavaliers were able to pull ahead. As with any game involving Virginia this year, there were plenty of stunning plays made, but there were also some areas that need attention. Let's take a look at the good, the bad and the ugly of this weekend's contest.

The Good

Dec 22, 2025; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers guard Sam Lewis (5) shoots the ball over American University Eagles forward Matt Mayock (33) in the first half at John Paul Jones Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

While this wasn't an error-free matchup, UVA walked away with a victory. The Cavaliers' ACC opener against Virginia Tech resulted in a loss, keeping them off the board in their conference. Fortunately, they sought redemption and rallied for a win this weekend. Now, they're riding a 1-1 record in conference play, with high hopes of clinching another victory on Jan. 7 when they take on California.

The Virginia-NC State matchup was interesting in that it wasn't the usual players taking the lead. Instead, Sam Lewis led both programs with 23 points. He had an opportunity to prove himself, and he did just that.

The Bad

Dec 31, 2025; Blacksburg, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers guard Chance Mallory (2) in disbelief after getting called for a foul during the second overtime period at Cassell Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bishop-Imagn Images | Brian Bishop-Imagn Images

As the story goes, the Cavaliers are one of the top teams in the ACC when it comes to foul troubles this season. Now, compared to their Virginia Tech contest in which UVA logged a whopping 27 fouls, things weren't too ugly this weekend. However, there's still room for improvement in this area. Odom has mentioned that this is an area of focus for his program as the rest of the season plays out.

The Ugly

Dec 31, 2025; Blacksburg, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers head coach Ryan Odom gives his team instructions during the first overtime periodat Cassell Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bishop-Imagn Images | Brian Bishop-Imagn Images

Head coach Ryan Odom went up in flames yesterday, a moment that he surely wasn't proud of. After noticeably disagreeing with the officials on a late whistle, Odom received a technical foul. As he explained during his postgame press conference:

"I was just irritated at quite a few things, you know, at that point. Irritated at my team, right? Irritated. And I shouldn't do that. Like that shouldn't be something that I do, but the guys responded, and certainly we had three veteran officials out there. They're all excellent and did an excellent job, you know, today overall, and you know, we're going to miss you know coaching calls, refs are going to miss, officials are going to miss calls at times, and they own up to that. We have to own up to when we make mistakes as coaches and players, and it's just part of the game, but our guys, you know, needed a jolt of energy there, and I think they did a nice job of responding."