Virginia slogged through the opening nine minutes, scoring nine points – a 40-point pace.
Northeastern made Virginia work for a long stretch of the game tonight, but superior depth and talent are hard to overcome.
The ‘Hoos, after nine in nine, scored 88 points in the final 31 minutes – that would be a 114-point pace – on the way to a 97-72 win on Friday.
This one was a tuneup for the big early-season matchup on Sunday in DC – #9 UVA facing #12 Arkansas in the Capital One Arena.
The final score belies how good a tuneup this was for Virginia (2-0).
Northeastern (0-2) hung around for a while. The ‘Hoos led by seven at the half, and the Huskies twice cut it to five in the early minutes of the second half.
They were bound to run out of gas, with four of their starters getting 30-plus minutes in the Week 1 game.
No way anybody is conditioned for that just yet.
Rashad King, the fifth-year senior, who played three years at Northeastern, left for a year at LSU, then returned for a fifth year after winning a court injunction in Baton Rouge, had 26 points.
More impressively, to me, a sophomore, Louis Bond, made himself some dollars tonight – 23 points, on 9-of-16 shooting, 3-of-7 from three.
Bond, young man, get yourself an agent.
Chance Mallory had 20 points, five assists, four steals and one turnover in 28 minutes for Virginia.
Sam Lewis also had 20 points and four assists, but then, six turnovers.
Thijs de Ridder, who had 24 points in the season-opening win over Drexel on Tuesday, had 16 tonight – 13 in the second half.
Johann Grunloh had 13 points, and Elijah Gertrude had 10 points and five boards in 18 minutes off the bench.
Sunday’s game in DC has a 1 p.m. ET tip.
Live coverage
Update: 5:07 p.m. Ugly start
We’re 2-2 at the first media timeout. Virginia is 1-of-8 from the floor and 0-of-6 from three with two turnovers.
I saw online yesterday that there was speculation about Johann Grunloh maybe having a gimpy ankle. He started tonight, but he does look gimpy. Definitely not 100 percent.
Update: 5:10 p.m. Decent crowd size
Not a bad crowd for an odd 5 p.m. start on a Friday. A start time like this usually only happens around the holidays.
Update: 5:18 p.m. Still ugly
Eight minutes and change in, and Virginia has eight points, is 3-of-12 from the floor, 1-of-8 from three, and has five turnovers on its 15 possessions.
Twenty-five percent shooting and 33.3 percent turnover rate.
Not good.
Northeastern is overplaying cuts, so, back cut them, would seem to be the fix there.
Update: 5:31 p.m. Picking up some
Chance Mallory with a personal 7-0 run. Odd thing about Chance: he gets hit while shooting the ball in traffic without getting calls more than anybody I can remember.
He’s the smallest guy on the floor tonight by seven inches, and is reffed like he’s Shaquille O’Neal.
Seven assists on the 10 made baskets; no assists from the point guards.
Update: 5:41 p.m. Offense coming together
Virginia started 4-of-14 from the floor; has made nine of its last 12 in the last 6:26.
Credit to Northeastern: they’re making UVA work even during this stretch.
Update: 5:51 p.m. Virginia 38-31 at the break
Took a while for Virginia to get things going, then they did, got the lead to 13 in the final two minutes.
Northeastern, pesky, is hanging around. A 6-o Huskies run has us at 38-31 at the break.
Chance Mallory took two heat-check threes; you’re only allowed one of those, if you miss the first one.
Mallory is one of three guys with nine points – along with Sam Lewis and Johann Grunloh, who still looks less than 100 percent to me, even with that one-dribble-from-the-arc dunk.
Lewis can make you think at times that he could dominate any time he wants to, but he can also just fade into the background for long stretches.
Thijs de Ridder has three points (only two shot attempts) and five boards, with three assists, in 15 minutes.
They’re using him to bring the ball up the court a lot.
Which he can do, but then, sometimes he forgets and dribbles into trouble, because he thinks he needs to create something.
Thus, the two turnovers.
Update: 6:13 p.m. Northeastern timeout
Northeastern briefly had it down to five, but a 7-0 Virginia run has the lead at 12.
Virginia is 4-of-4 from the floor, with a made three, and 3-of-4 at the line this half.
Somebody on our side needs to pay attention to Louis Bond – who has 14 points, seven in this half (5-of-8 FG, 2-of-4 3FG).
Update: 6:20 p.m. Louis Bond is making money
Just looked it up: Louis Bond, who now has 16, on 6-of-9 shooting, is a sophomore.
I’d trade for him right now and call it a day.
Bond is making himself some money tonight.
Meanwhile …
The defense that I wrote about in the preseason is leaving a lot to be desired.
Northeastern is shooting 48.3 percent, and is 5-of-6 from the field to start the second half.
They’re only under a point per possession because of the 13 turnovers.
Update: 6:33 p.m. Credit to Northeastern
This Northeastern team isn’t playing like a team that will finish 11th in the CAA.
Got outrebounded severely by Boston U. the other night, hanging with UVA tonight (21-20 advantage for UVA).
I like their defense – forced nine Virginia turnovers, nothing coming easy.
Update: 6:45 p.m. Here’s where I feel bad for the little guys
Northeastern played its asses off, but reality has set in: it’s 76-53 Virginia, and their big dogs are spent, because they played extra minutes trying to keep it close.
Rashad King has 22; no, he can’t make money in NIL next year, because he’s a fifth-year senior.
Louis Bond is stuck on 16.
Update: 6:50 p.m. Fun stat time
Virginia had nine points in the first nine minutes of this game.
In the last 25 minutes: 74 points.
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Chris Graham
