No. 23 Virginia takes down Stanford, now 10-0 at home
Thijs De Ridder scored 22 points and No. 23 Virginia rolled to a 70-55 victory over cold-shooting Stanford on Saturday in Atlantic Coast Conference action in Charlottesville, Va.
The Cavaliers (14-2, 3-1) improved to 10-0 at home as De Ridder made 8 of 11 shots from the field and 5 of 5 free throws for his eighth 20-point game of the season.
Chance Mallory added 13 points for Virginia, which posted big advantages in second-chance points (13-2) and points in the paint (36-22) to win its third straight game. Malik Thomas added 11 points and a game-high seven rebounds.
The Cardinal (13-4, 2-2) had won their first five games played away from home. They trailed by only seven at halftime but shot 19.4% from the field (6 of 31) in the second half, including 11.8% from 3-point range (2 of 17).
Stanford freshman star Ebuka Okorie was scoreless after halftime, finishing with 14 points on 5-of-20 shooting (0 for 6 from deep). Benny Gealer had 15 points -- 13 in the first half.
The Cavaliers' lead reached double digits at 47-37 on Mallory's three-point play with 16:24 remaining.
Consecutive 3-pointers by Sam Lewis sparked a 9-0 run that extended the Virginia advantage to 60-39.
Two free throws by Dallin Hall gave the Cavaliers their largest lead at 64-41 with 9:14 to play.
The Cardinal had won seven straight meetings with the Cavaliers, whose only win in the series came on Dec. 5, 1992.
The Virginia defense forced 13 turnovers. The Cardinal shot 32.1% for the game and 19.2% (5 of 26) from behind the arc.
The Cavaliers opened a 17-9 lead with a 13-2 run, capped by Mallory's jumper at the 12:29 mark.
The Cardinal cut the deficit to 31-30 on Gealer's 3-pointer with 3:30 remaining and trailed 41-34 at intermission.