Thijs De Ridder and No. 9 Virginia look to take apart another Coastal Athletic Association squad on Friday when Northeastern takes the floor in Charlottesville, Va.
De Ridder scored 24 points on Tuesday night to lead the Cavaliers to a season-opening 89-60 win at home against Drexel. The preseason Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year scored 12 points in the first three minutes and Virginia opened up a 25-4 lead from which the Dragons couldn’t recover.
“Our guys were energetic, they were enthusiastic, they were playing well together,” Cavaliers coach Ryan Odom said. “They were playing physical and playing fast.”
Virginia guard Sam Lewis, who added 20 points, put it more plainly.
“I feel like we just came out and punched them in the face,” Lewis said.
Northeastern traded blows with neighboring Boston University in Monday’s season opener. The Huskies erased a 10-point halftime deficit and led 78-77 with 5:09 to play before fading down the stretch and falling 93-85.
“I thought we froze against (the zone) in the first half,” Northeastern coach Bill Coen said. “We got ourselves organized at halftime and were able to get some really quality looks and make a run at it.”
Rashad King scored a game-high 21 points in his return to the Huskies. The senior guard spent last season at LSU after playing his first three seasons at Northeastern from 2022-25.
“We’re very excited to have Rashad back. He was a great teammate, an excellent performer, (a) really good player for us,” Coen said. “To have a mature guy in the locker room and a guy who has experienced things is such a bonus.”
Four other players scored in double figures for Coen’s crew, led by Dorian Grosber with 18 points (3 of 7 from downtown) and Brayden Young with 13 off the bench.
After allowing 50 points in the paint and getting outrebounded 36-25 by the Terriers, the Huskies could be in trouble against the superior size of Virginia. The Cavaliers compiled a 42-33 advantage on the glass and a 44-28 edge in points in the paint against the Dragons.
In addition to the 6-foot-9 Ridder (nine rebounds against Drexel), the Cavaliers got 11 points and nine rebounds from another returning starter, 7-footer Johann Grunloh.
Virginia dominated Drexel with a full-court press that produced an arena-record 18 steals and led to 25 points off 21 turnovers. The Cavaliers scored 29 points on the fast break, compared to seven for the Dragons.
Still, there is room for improvement for Virginia, which is coming off a 30-6 season in Odom’s first campaign.
One area of concern was the up-and-down play of starting point guard Chance Mallory, who came off the bench in all 36 games as a freshman last season. He had eight points on 2-of-7 shooting with three assists, three boards and a game-high four steals, but he also turned the ball over six times in 22 minutes.
Other than Lewis, who made 4 of 6 attempts from behind the arc, the rest of the Cavaliers combined to shoot just 26.1% (6 of 23) from 3-point distance.