The Virginia Cavaliers moved to 4-0 with a dominant offensive performance against the Marshall Thundering Herd on Saturday afternoon.
The Wahoos put up 104 points, the most the program has scored in a single game since November 16, 2008. The last time UVA hit the 100-point mark came against Marshall nearly seven years ago when the eventual 2018-19 national champions beat the same team, Marshall, 100-64 on New Year’s Eve Day.
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The story of the game was the production Virginia got from its starting backcourt of Malik Thomas and Dallin Hall. They each scored 18 points which marked a season-high total for both.
Hall was the most aggressive he’s been as a scorer in a Virginia uniform, taking six shots including four triples and shooting 5-for-6 from the field and 3-for-4 from deep. Hall got to the line on a few different occasions as well, making 5-for-6 at the charity stripe.
He was effective coming off ball screens and touching the paint while also capitalizing on ball movement by his teammates on the perimeter. He added three assists and just one turnover in his 33 minutes.
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Thomas, meanwhile, looked like the go-to scoring guard UVA fans were promised when he arrived in Charlottesville. He hit 7-of-9 shots and 4-of-5 three-point attempts. He started cooking early, scoring 13 points in a 2:56 stretch from the 16:50 until the 13:54 mark in the first half. The way Thomas hunted his shot at all three levels was exciting and displayed what sort of issues he can cause defenses when he’s in a groove.
Those two starting guards were electric and Virginia’s frontcourt continues to be practically unstoppable. Thijs de Ridder put up 23 points on 17 (!) shots. The offense consistently attacked Marshall’s zone defense by feeding De Ridder in the high post and letting him go to work.
De Ridder’s German teammate, Johann Gruenloh, was the fourth Wahoo to score at least 16 points. He filled the stat sheet with 16, seven rebounds, three blocks, and an assist. His showed off his back-to-the-basket game, repeatedly backing his man down into the paint and maneuvering to space around the rim. The seven-foot German also hit the first three of his college career.
While Marshall scored 78 points in the 26-point defeat, the volume of possessions between these two fast-paced offenses was most responsible. The Thundering Herd scored just 1.07 points per possession. Marshall entered the day shooting 40.4% from three, but only converted on 29.2% of their long balls against the Cavaliers.
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The Wahoo defense was disruptive, both in its full-court press and settled defense. Virginia finished with nine steals and four blocks. Gruenloh (18.0%, fifth) and Ugonna Onyenso (16.2%, ninth) are both top-10 in the country in block rate with Chance Mallory 22nd in steal rate (7.2%).
With four wins in their pocket, the Wahoos will play their first Power-4 conference opponent next Friday and Saturday when they take on against Northwestern and Butler in the Greenbrier Tip-off.
