Virginia, 6-1 on the season, hasn’t played a true road game yet, an issue that will be rectified tonight with the tipoff at Texas (6-2) at 9:15 p.m. ET in the 2025 ACC/SEC Challenge.
The Longhorns are unofficially 1-1 in the ACC – losing to Duke, 75-60, in their season opener on Nov. 4, and defeating NC State, 102-97, last week in Maui.
The State game is their lone Top 100 win.
Virginia also has a 1-1 record in Top 100 games – an 83-78 win over Northwestern, and an 80-73 loss to Butler, both at The Greenbrier Tipoff.
DraftKings has Texas a 2.5-point favorite at home in this one, with an over/under at 154.5 – projected final score: Texas 79, Virginia 76.
KenPom projects a 79-75 Texas win.
BartTorvik says 78-75 Texas.
Pretty consistent there.
Update: 9:30 p.m. ESPN is utterly incompetent. Took me five minutes to log in on my phone; still can’t get it on the ESPN app on the 80-inch TV in the living room.
Those chodes should be embarrassed to consider themselves worthy of getting a penny of anybody’s money.
The score is 8-7 UVA. I have no idea how.
Update: 9:34 p.m. And they want my money to get me to watch WWE? F**k no.
Update: 9:38 p.m. UVA leads 17-9, 13:25/1st.
Three straight threes gets Sean Miller to call a TO.
Threes by Chance Mallory at the end of the shot clock, Ugonna Onyenso and Jacari White, just … makes.
The announcers know less than nothing about UVA Basketball.
The play-by-play guy went on about how Ryan Odom watched Mallory grow up in Charlottesville.
Dude, basic research.
Update: 9:50 p.m. UVA 27-17, 7:55/1st.
Virginia is 5-of-9 from three and 5-of-7 at the rim.
Good start.
The last two makes at the rim were Texas not getting back on D.
Two of the threes were guys making tough shots.
The offense could actually be better.
Defense: Texas is 7-of-20, 1-of-5 from three, 2-of-6 at the rim.
Solid.
Update: 10:04 p.m. UVA 34-19, 4:00/1st.
Still impressed with the UVA D: Texas is 8-of-24 from the floor.
That’s 19 points on 25 possessions. Feels like Tony Bennett D.
Update: 10:13 p.m. UVA 46-27 at the half.
I mean, not bad.
Virginia shot 51.6 percent, was 9-of-18 from three, 7-of-10 at the rim.
Held Texas to 36.7 percent shooting, 1-of-7 from three.
There were two rather easy Texas dribble-drives to the rim in the final minute.
Gotta clean that up.
Johann Grunloh: 12 points, 5-of-6 FG, three dunks, one layup, 1-of-2 from three.
Jacari White: 10 points, 3-of-3 from three.
UVA: 12 assists on its 16 made baskets.
UVA: 33.3 percent offensive-rebound rate (low), 75 percent defensive-rebound rate (good).
Tempo: 30 possessions (TB pace).
Update: 10:40 p.m. UVA 55-34, 15:58/2nd.
Two TOs already this half, after three in the first half.
The one thing about this team that we’ve seen so far this season: it can get bored with a big lead.
Update: 10:53 p.m. UVA 66-41, 11:04/2nd.
Texas is shooting 37.2 percent.
The difference on D between the Greenbrier trip and tonight is stark.
Update: 11:04 p.m. UVA 71-49, 9:12/2nd.
It feels like another lag is upon us.
The D got lazy in that last stretch.
Grunloh is out with four fouls, two of them in a short span, just lazy, dumb fouls.
The guards are letting guys get to the rim and create fouls on the bigs.
Gotta clean that up.
Update: 11:23 p.m. UVA 83-60, 3:18/2nd.
Nice minutes distribution tonight: de Ridder leads with 27; nine guys with at least 14.
Final: UVA 88, Texas 69
Recap to come.
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Chris Graham
