Hall and the Hoos hold on, beat Northwestern 83-78
Senior guard Dallin Hall scored 11 second-half points, including going 5-for-6 from the line late, to help UVa secure an 83-78 win over Northwestern in the Greenbrier Tip-Off on Friday night.
The Wahoos won despite losing leading scorer Thijs De Ridder with 5:46 left to play. They were able to stay undefeated (5-0) thanks in large part to the shooting of Hall, who made a pair of 3s in the second half, and the free-throw shooting of guard Chance Mallory and Malik Thomas.
First, it was the rookie from Charlottesville who, despite also fouling out of the game with 1:42 to play, scored 10 of his 16 points in the second half to help bring the Cavaliers back.
A key 10-2 run put Virginia up four before Mallory fouled out. After bringing down a pair of offensive boards the Cavaliers, who finished with 21 ORBs called a timeout up a point with 1:11 left. Despite making just one of their last night shots from the field to that point, the Hoos got five big free throws thereafter from Hall to help push the lead to six.
A late 3-pointer by Northwestern’s KJ Windham cut it to 79-76 with 10.5 seconds left. Thomas was fouled on the following inbound and made both of his free throws with 8.1 seconds left to bump the lead back to five. Jayden Reid, who had a team-high 25 points for the Wildcats (4-1), went to the line and made both before Thomas corralled the ensuing inbound and was fouled with 1.7 seconds remaining. He made both to lock down the two-possession win.
In all, De Ridder led the way with a career-high 26 points and 8 rebounds. In fact, he surpassed his previous high with 11:25 left to play. Thomas added 14 points in the victory for the Cavaliers, who won despite shooting just 38 percent from the floor and 21 percent from long range.
But a 30-for-36 night at the free-throw line helped buoy the Wahoos, who only allowed the Wildcats to shoot 24 (making 17) from the charity stripe.
Virginia had a significant edge on the glass, 49 to 25, and scored 18 second-chance points. The Wahoos, who trailed for the first time this season with 17:11 left in the first half and led by four at the break, also got 18 points off the bench in the win.
The game finished with 12 lead changes, as UVa led for just 14:04 of the 40 minutes.
The Cavaliers will return to action on Sunday in White Sulphur Springs with a matchup against Butler at 2 p.m., which CBS Sports Network will televise.
