The Good, The Bad & The Ugly From No.13 Virginia's 75-70 Victory Over Wake Forest

What stood out the most from the Hoos victory at home vs an ACC rival

Mar 3, 2026; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers guard Jacari White (6) drives to the basket as Wake Forest Demon Deacons guard Mekhi Mason (8) defends in the second half at John Paul Jones Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Virginia survived a major upset scare by the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, who came to John Paul Jones Arena and gave the Cavaliers all they could handle. They would simply not go away and continue to make runs despite not shooting the ball well. However, the Hoos were carried by Thijs De Ridder, Dallin Hall, and Johann Grünloh, who made plays consistently offensively. Bench stalwart Jacari White also brought the energy and finished in double-figures for the Hoos on an off night for the team. Let’s take a look at the good, bad, and the ugly from the game on Tuesday. 

Good 

-Thijs De Ridder finishes with 16 pins and seven rebounds

-Johann Grünloh nearly finishes with a double-double, finishing with 12 points and nine rebounds

-Grünloh presence on defense adding three blocks and playing some of his best ball as of late 

-Jacari White 14 points off the bench on 6-12 shooting 

-Virginia finishes with nine blocks 

-The Hoos dish out 17 assists 

-Virginia continues to show the ability to close down the stretch with two clutch free throws from Dallin Hall 

-The Hoos get 12 offensive rebounds, which leads to 13 second-chance points 

-Virginia finishes with a +10 advantage on the glass 

-Four players finished in double-figures for the Hoos 

-Virginia goes 7-15 from beyond the arc in the second half 

-Dallin Hall carries the Cavaliers offensively with 10 second-half points and a perfect 4-4 from the line 

-Thijs De Ridder was the main scoring punch in the first half with 10 points 

-Ugonna Onyenso adds seven rebounds and three blocks 

-Virginia 10-2 run to end the first half, which gave them a 32-24 lead at the break 

-Thijs de Ridder finishes with the highest game score on the for analytics with a 15.5 game score; He also produced 12.2 points and had the best net on the team with a 1.6 (net points minus points allowed 

-Dallin Hall's true shooting percentage was the second-highest on the team with a 73; Johann Grünloh had an 81 

-Ugonna Onyenso was also a delight for the analytics, posting a 129.1 offensive rating and a stop percentage of 96.2; both were the highest on the team 

Bad 

-Wake Forest scores 36 bench points against the Hoos 

-Virginia goes 10-32 from beyond the arc 

-The Hoos shoot 43% from the field in the win 

-Virginia goes 11-30 in the first half against Wake Forest 

-The Hoos allow two Wake Forest players to score 20 points in Juke Harris and Mekhi Mason 

-Wake Forest goes 17-32 from the field in the second half and a perfect 7-7 from the free throw line 

-Juke Harris drops 11 second-half points on 5-9 shooting, and Sebastian Akins adds 10 second-half points 

Ugly 

-Mekhi Mason drops 26 points on 9-12 shooting from the field 

-Virginia goes 15-23 from the free throw line (65%)

-Wake Forest goes 14-15 from the charity stripe 

-Sam Lewis fouls out and finished with just two points 

-Virginia goes 3-17 from beyond the arc in the first half 

-The Hoos endure another rock fight after a tough loss to Duke