No. 18 Virginia Welcomes Pitt to JPJ on Tuesday

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 18 Virginia (18-3, 7-2 ACC) hosts Pitt (9-13, 2-7 ACC) on Tuesday, Feb. 3. Tipoff for the ACC contest at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 9 p.m. on the ACC Network and Virginia Sports Radio Network.

Tickets

• Single-game, group and mini-plan tickets are on sale at uvatix.com. The Pick 2 Plan features one weekend game (Syracuse, Miami or Virginia Tech) and one weekday game (Pitt, NC State or Wake Forest). The Pick 2 Plan packages start at $110, and can be purchased online, or by contacting the UVA Ticket Sales Team at (434) 924-8821 (Ext. 1). 

For Openers

• No. 18 Virginia (18-3) is tied for third in the ACC at 7-2, while Pitt (9-13) is tied for 15th at 2-7.
• Thijs De Ridder is the ACC Player and Rookie of the Week, after averaging 24.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in road wins at Notre Dame and Boston College.
• UVA has scored 80 or more points in 15 games, most since 21 in 2000-01.
• The Cavaliers are averaging 84 points, third-most in school history and most since 85 ppg in 2000-01.
• UVA ranks 17th in the kenpom.com rankings and 18th in the NET rankings.

Broadcast Information

• The Virginia-Pitt game will be televised on the ACC Network, streamed on ESPN.com/watch and broadcast on the Virginia Sports Radio Network, VirginiaSports.com and Virginia Sports app.
• Live statistics are available on VirginiaSports.com and the Virginia Sports app.

The New Head Coach

• Ryan Odom was named the University of Virginia’s Dean and Markel Families Men’s Head Basketball Coach on March 22.

• He spent the last two seasons at VCU, leading the Rams to a 52-21 record and 2025 NCAA Tournament berth.
• VCU won the 2025 Atlantic-10 Tournament and shared the A-10 regular-season championship.
• UVA is Odom’s fifth stint as a collegiate head coach. In 12 seasons, he has compiled a record of 224-127, including stops at Utah State (2021-23), UMBC (2017-2021), Lenoir-Rhyne (2016), Charlotte (2015, interim).
• Odom led UMBC, Utah State and VCU to the NCAA Tournament during his second season at those schools.
• Odom coached UMBC to an upset against Virginia in 2018 NCAA Tournament, marking the first time a No. 16 seed defeated a No. 1 seed in the event’s history.
• Odom is the first UVA coach to start his tenure 5-0, surpassing the Cavaliers’ first coach Henry Lannigan who started 4-0 in 1905-06.
• Odom’s 18 wins rank second for most wins for a UVA first-year head coach behind Jeff Jones’ 21 wins in 1990-91.

All-Time vs. Pitt

• UVA is 20-6 all-time vs. Pitt in the series that dates to 1957.
• UVA is 8-2 against the Panthers in Charlottesville.
• The Cavaliers are 3-2 in their last five games against the Panthers and 8-2 in the last 10.
• UVA has won nine of the last 11 contests in the series.
• Virginia has won 15 of the last 18 games against Pitt.
• UVA is 13-3 against Pitt in ACC action since 2013-14.

Last Time vs. The Panthers

• Dai Dai Ames scored 27 points to lead Virginia to a 73-57 road win at Pittsburgh on Feb. 3, 2025.
• Ames shot 11 of 16 from the field and 3 of 6 from 3-point land.
• Blake Buchanan added 10 points and 11 rebounds and Andrew Rohde chipped in nine points, a career-high nine assists and seven rebounds in the road win.
• UVA shot 56% from the field and outrebounded Pitt 33-21.
• Ish Leggett led the Panthers with 17 points.

Last Time Out

• Thijs De Ridder scored 17 points to lead No. 17 Virginia to a 73-66 win over Boston College at Conte Forum on Jan. 31.
• Malik Thomas added 14 points and Chance Mallory chipped in 11 as UVA captured its fifth ACC road win of the season.
• The Cavaliers gained their first lead of the game at 15:31 of the second half (41-38).
• UVA finished 4 of 23 from 3-point range but scored 44 points in the paint.
• Donald Hand Jr. led Boston College (9-12, 2-6 ACC) with 20 points, while Fred Payne chipped in 17.

Virginia Standard

• The Virginia Standard is to pursue excellence and is built on the six pillars of humility, passion, unity, servanthood, thankfulness and accountability,
  • We play with pace, share the basketball and our defensive style is to dictate and disrupt.

Hoo Are These Cavaliers?

• The 2025-26 roster is highlighted by 12 newcomers, including Dallin Hall (BYU), Malik Thomas (San Francisco), Devin Tillis (UC Irvine), Jacari White (North Dakota State), Ugonna Onyenso (Kansas State), Sam Lewis (Toledo) and Martin Carrere (VCU).
• UVA added European imports Thijs De Ridder (Bilbao Basket), Johann Grünloh (RASTA Vechta) and true freshmen Silas Barksdale, Chance Mallory and Owen Odom.
• Redshirt sophomores Elijah Gertrude, Carter Lang and Desmond Roberts are the lone returners from last year’s team.
• De Ridder leads UVA in scoring at 17 ppg, followed by Thomas (13 ppg), Mallory (10.5 ppg) and Lewis (10.2 ppg).
• De Ridder and Grünloh lead the team in rebounding (6.3 rpg), while Onyenso leads in blocks (2.4 bpg) and Hall leads in assists (4.3 apg).
• UVA is averaging 84 points and holding foes to 69.3 ppg.
• Seven different Cavaliers have led the team in scoring (Thijs De Ridder, Dallin Hall, Sam Lewis, Chance Mallory, Ugonna Onyenso, Malik Thomas, Jacari White).
• In ACC play, the Cavaliers are averaging 79.9 points and opponents are netting 73 ppg.

Hoos Among ACC Leaders

• UVA ranks first in the ACC in rebounds (41.8) and offensive rebounds (14.3), second in field goal percentage defense (.395), rebound margin (+9.0) and blocks (5.9 bpg), third in scoring margin (+14.8) and assist/turnover ratio (1.6), fourth in 3-pointers (10.1) and scoring defense (69.3 ppg) and fifth in 3-point field goal percentage (.359), 3-point field goal percentage defense (.302) and defensive rebounds (27.5 rpg).
• Thijs De Ridder ranks ninth in scoring (17 ppg), seventh in field goal percentage (53.8%) and 17th in rebounds (6.3 rpg).
• Dallin Hall ranks first in assist/turnover ratio (3.3) and 11th in assists (4.3 apg).
• Ugonna Onyenso ranks second in blocks at 2.4 bpg.
• Johann Grünloh ranks third in blocks (2.2 bpg) and 18th in rebounds (6.3 rpg).
• Chance Mallory ranks second in assist/turnover ratio (3.0), third in steals (1.9 spg), 14th in assists (3.5 apg) and 15th in free throw percentage (78.7%).
• Jacari White ranks 12th in 3-pointers made per game (2.1).

On The Horizon

• No. 18 Virginia hosts Syracuse on Saturday, Feb. 7. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for Noon on ESPN, ESPN Radio and Virginia Sports Radio Network.