Virginia basketball had no problem handling its business at home against American on Monday night, cruising to a 95-51 win to move to 11-1 on the year. Freshman Thijs De Ridder led the way with 27 points on 11-of-15 from the floor, while four other Cavaliers scored in double figures.
The Cavaliers now have eight full days off before they begin ACC play against rival Virginia Tech next Wednesday in Blacksburg. For UVA guard Jacari White, that break could not come at a better time as he was unable to play on Monday due to a non-shooting hand wrist injury he suffered against Maryland on Saturday.
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Without the shooting prowess of White, Virginia still shot an impressive 62.3% from the floor, largely as a result of dominating the interior to the tune of 56 points in the paint. On the other end of the floor, American struggled offensively, shooting just 31.7% from the field and 22.9% from the perimeter.
All told, it was a dominant performance for the Cavaliers on both ends in their penultimate game of the calendar year. Here are three takeaways from the 44-point win:
Thijs De Ridder returned to dominant form.
After scoring only five points on a season-worst 1-of-8 from the floor against Maryland on Saturday, De Ridder had no trouble finding his groove against the Eagles, scoring 13 of Virginia’s first 17 points and hitting five of his first six shots and seven of his first nine.
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The Belgian big man found success in the paint, beating his man off the dribble, and shooting from the perimeter. In the first half alone, he was 8-of-10 from the floor, including a trio of three-pointers on four attempts. His 21-point first half was the difference for UVA in the opening 20 minutes as the Cavaliers took a 45-25 lead into the break.
With the Eagles lacking an answer for him no matter where he was on the floor, De Ridder finished with 27 points and eight rebounds as the Cavaliers cruised to a comfortable win.
Virginia’s defense made things difficult for American all night.
A 6:51 drought without a field goal in the first half prevented the Eagles from ever hanging around in this game. If it weren’t for the fact that seven of their nine first-half field goals were three-pointers, the Eagles would have been in an even worse spot after the first 20 minutes. They shot just 29.0% from the floor before the break
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The three-point shooting then dried up in the second half as the Eagles went just 1-of-12 from beyond the arc. They did score 14 points in the paint after managing only two in the first half, but that was far too little and far too late to matter. The Cavaliers outmuscled the Eagles on the boards to the tune of a 45-23 rebounding advantage. They frustrated American with tight man-to-man defense. And finally, UVA limited American’s opportunities for easy buckets, holding the visitors to zero fast break points and just three points off turnovers
UVA’s schedule gets harder from here, but by no means is it a gauntlet.
Virginia’s large-margin wins over small conference teams like American, Queens, and Marshall won’t define this season, obviously. How they fare against the top half of a much-improved ACC will.
Only one of Virginia’s first four ACC games comes against a team currently ranked in the KenPom top 50, as of writing. The Cavaliers don’t play consecutive games against current teams in that top 50 until they play at Louisville (14th in KenPom), at SMU (42nd), and versus UNC (23rd) in a three-game span in late January.
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UVA has one other stretch that stands out on the remaining schedule, which comes in the final two weeks of February. The ‘Hoos play Ohio State (39th in KenPom) in Nashville before traveling to Georgia Tech (133rd). They then play Miami (34th) and NC State (26th) at home before going to Duke (6th), making it four current top-34 teams in a five-game, 15-day stretch.
Overall, it looks to be a manageable schedule, particularly for a team that has exceeded preseason expectations thus far. If UVA can avoid surprise losses to the bottom ACC teams, while picking off a few wins against the Research Triangle teams, the Cavaliers might just find themselves near the top of the ACC standings when the calendar turns to March.
