Thijs De Ridder scored 24 points and Sam Lewis added 20 to fuel No. 9 Virginia’s 89-60 victory against Drexel on Tuesday in the season opener for both teams in Charlottesville, Va.
De Ridder, the Atlantic Coast Conference preseason Player of the Year, sank 9 of 15 shots and grabbed nine rebounds. Lewis was 4 of 6 from 3-point range and Johann Grunloh added 11 points and nine rebounds.
After winning 30 games last season in coach Ryan Odom’s first campaign, Virginia was picked to finish second in the ACC in the preseason media poll. The Cavaliers raced to a fast start and never trailed against the visiting Dragons of the Coastal Athletic Association.
Virginia racked up 18 steals, scored 25 points off 21 Drexel turnovers and finished with a 29-7 edge in fastbreak points.
LaDricus Pittman scored 11 points off the bench, Latief Lorenzano-White chipped in 11 and Dillon Tingler added 10 to lead the Dragons.
After trailing by as many as 29 points in the first half, Drexel pulled within 58-42 on Tingler’s 3-pointer with 11:49 to play. The Dragons would get no closer.
Virginia weathered a slow start to the second half and grabbed its largest lead of the game at 85-49 on Jurian Dixon’s dunk with 4:04 remaining, capping a 12-0 run.
The Cavaliers shot 47.8% from the field, made 10 3-pointers and were 15 of 19 at the free-throw line. The Dragons shot 39.7% from the field.
De Ridder dominated from the jump. After igniting the wire-to-wire win with a layup five seconds into the game, he buried back-to-back 3-pointers and scored 12 of Virginia’s first 14 points.
The Cavaliers built leads of 25-4 and 30-9 before Drexel finally reached double figures on a three-point play by Lorenzano-White with 9:08 left in the half.
A steal and transition dunk by Lewis gave Virginia its largest lead of the half at 51-22 with 1:27 to play. The Cavaliers led 51-27 at the break.