UVa dominates second half in 84-60 win over Cal
After a fairly competitive first half, No. 23 UVa blew out Cal 84-60 with a dominant second half performance. Five Wahoos ended the night with double-digit points, with Malik Thomas leading the way with 20.
All-in-all, the Hoos went 30-for-60 (50%) from the field while holding the Golden Bears to 19 of 54 (35.2%) shooting. UVa also dominated the glass, out-rebounding Cal 45-26, while racking up nine blocks, the Hoos’ second-most in a game this season behind only their 11 against Butler. The Cavaliers also had nine against Hampton and Rider. Cal finished with just three.
Ugonna Onyenso led the team in blocks (four) and rebounds (nine) along with 12 points. Johann Grunloh finished just behind him in rebounds with eight while also adding 12 points.
“Tonight, I told [Onyenso and Grunloh] after the game, they were a two-headed monster,” head coach Ryan Odom said postgame, “and they both protected the rim really well, and they both were energetic with their play and I was impressed.”
The first half went back-and-forth throughout. Despite just six lead changes and Cal never leading by more than two, UVa didn’t build a lead bigger than five until there was just 6:08.
The Golden Bears’ best opportunity to build a lead came midway through the first, when they took a 19-17 lead with 10:51 remaining. UVa and Cal then each traded a 3 before Thijs De Ridder and Chance Mallory from beyond the arc on back-to-back possessions to put the Hoos back in front for good.
But UVa went on a 7-2 run at the end of the half, capped off with a 3-pointer from Thomas with just three seconds remaining. He led the Wahoos with 11 points, followed closely behind by Sam Lewis with 10.
The Hoos stayed hot entering the second, outscoring the Golden Bears 41-27. Cal went just over eight minutes without a field goal early in the half. From 1:38 remaining in the first to 7:11 in the second, the Cavaliers went on a 30-10 run.
Tonight marked a homecoming for former Wahoo Dai Dai Ames, as well as former UVa player and graduate assistant Isaiah Wilkins, who’s now an assistant for Cal. Ames, the Golden Bears’ leading scorer so far this season, finished with a team-leading 18 points.
With the win, the Cavaliers improve to 13-2 (2-1 ACC) and will stay home to face Stanford on Saturday at 2:15 p.m.
