Biggest Winners and Losers From Virginia’s Opening Win

Who stood out against Drexel?

Virginia Cavaliers guard Chance Mallory (1) attacks the Drexel defense at John Paul Jones Arena. | Photo by Aaron Snyder

Tuesday, Virginia began its season with an 89-60 win over Drexel. The game was never particularly close.

Here are winners and losers from the Cavaliers' first outing of the 2026-27 campaign.

Winner: Elijah Gertrude and Martin Carrere's odds of being part of the rotation

In terms of minutes, both Gertrude and Carrere ranked among the top nine Cavaliers.

That's telling. Coach Ryan Odom usually runs nine-man rotations, but Virginia is overloaded with depth. Realistically, this will end up being an 11-man rotation. There are some talented players who will not be seeing the floor every night.

Christian Harmon is still recovering from a broken foot (he only played six minutes Tuesday). When he's 100% healthy, someone is going to lose some minutes. Perhaps Gertrude and Carrere will still get seven to 11 minutes.

Loser: Silas Barksdale

Barksdale played a team-low four minutes Tuesday night. His stock is especially low after Carrere (another bubble player) received double the minutes and had a +/- of 1 while Barksdale's was -7. It looked like those two were battling for the final rotation spot, and Carrere's shooting ability turned out to be more game-ready.

Barring an injury or sudden cold streak by a player like Carrere, Vide or Gertrude, Barksdale seems destined for deep bench duty again.

Winner: Aggressive defense and transition scoring

This did not look like Tony Bennett basketball. Virginia scored 25 points in transition, with even the bigger forwards showcasing some top-end speed down the floor. The big effort was fueled by a historic 18 steals, the most ever recorded in a game at John Paul Jones Arena.

The Cavaliers looked faster, more agile, more crisp and more athletic than their guests. It wasn't particularly close. Virginia had putback dunks, strip-and-score(s), and a trio of thunderous blocks.

Loser: The Chance Mallory All-ACC campaign stock (for now)

Mallory got off to a slow start to the 2026-27 season. He scored eight points (2-7 shooting, 1-4 3PT) and lost six turnovers. He made up for some with four steals, three rebounds and three assists, but it was a generally sluggish outing by the rising star guard's standards.

Interestingly enough, Mallory's defense was quite sound. He had the third-best defensive rating on the team, trailing only Gertrude and Favour Ibe.

This was just one game. Expect Mallory to excel offensively against Northeastern Friday, and go on to author one of the more impressive seasons by a collegiate point guard this year.