Thijs De Ridder Scores 24 as No. 9 Virginia Forces 21 Turnovers With 18 Steals and Beats Drexel 89-60
Thijs De Ridder scored 24 points and No. 9 Virginia had 18 steals in an 89-60 win over Drexel on Tuesday night at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville.
Photo: Virginia Athletics. Official roster headshot of Thijs De Ridder, forward, Virginia men's basketball, 2026-27 season.
Thijs De Ridder scored 24 points and No. 9 Virginia had 18 steals in an 89-60 win over Drexel on Tuesday night at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville. Drexel turned it over 21 times and never led.
De Ridder shot 9 of 15 from the field, 2 of 4 from 3-point range and 4 of 4 at the line, with nine rebounds in 26 minutes and 48 seconds, per the official box score. He scored 12 points in the first 2:22, per the Associated Press, and had 18 by halftime, by our count from the play-by-play. Virginia was plus-33 with him on the floor, per the official box.
Sam Lewis added 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting, with 4 of 6 from deep and 4 of 4 at the line. Johann Grünloh had 11 points and nine rebounds. Chance Mallory finished with eight points and four steals, along with six turnovers.
The first 10 minutes
Virginia scored 12 straight points after Drexel's first basket, turning a 4-2 lead into 16-2 between 18:49 and 16:10 of the first half, by our count. It was 27-9 at the 10:00 mark and 41-19 with five minutes left in the half.
The four returners did all of the early damage. De Ridder, Grünloh, Lewis and Mallory scored Virginia's first 37 points, per the AP.
Virginia shot 19 of 36 (52.8%) in the first half and led 51-27 at the break, per the official box. The lead reached 36.
Where the steals came from
Seven Cavaliers recorded at least one steal, per the official box:
| Player | Steals | | --- | --- | | Chance Mallory | 4 | | Sam Lewis | 3 | | Nolan Adekunle | 3 | | Elijah Gertrude | 3 | | Thijs De Ridder | 2 | | Jurian Dixon | 2 | | Johann Grünloh | 1 |
Drexel made 23 field goals and committed 21 turnovers, so the Dragons came close to giving the ball away as often as they scored a basket, by our count. Adrian Petkovic committed four turnovers in three minutes, per ESPN.
The turnovers turned into easy offense. Virginia won points off turnovers 25-10 and fast-break points 29-7, and it outscored Drexel 44-28 in the paint, per the official box. Drexel only attempted seven free throws all night.
The Cavaliers went 10 of 29 from 3-point range (34.5%) and 32 of 67 overall (47.8%).
The second half
The second half was much closer. Drexel scored the last five points of the first half and the first two of the second, a 7-0 run that went from 51-22 with 1:09 left before the break to 51-29 at 18:54, by our count. Virginia shot 13 of 31 after halftime and outscored Drexel only 38-33.
Virginia also went three minutes and 29 seconds without a field goal midway through the half, from 14:57 to 11:28, by our count.
Dillon Tingler scored all 10 of his points after halftime for Drexel. Latief Lorenzano-White and LaDricus Pittman led the Dragons with 11 each. Lorenzano-White made 5 of 7 shots, and Pittman hit 3 of 5 from deep.
What Tuesday means for Virginia
Virginia won 30 games and reached the NCAA Tournament last season, per the AP, and this is Ryan Odom's second season in Charlottesville. The schedule gets harder right away. Virginia hosts Northeastern on Friday, then faces No. 12 Arkansas on Sunday in Washington, D.C., and plays Maryland on Nov. 13.
Arkansas forced 24 turnovers in its own opener Tuesday night, a 106-61 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Virginia entered the season No. 9 in the AP Top 25. A crowd of 12,487 saw the opener. Drexel hosts Colgate on Saturday.
Sources:
- Virginia Athletics: official box score PDF, Drexel at Virginia (Nov. 3, 2026)
- Virginia Athletics: Sam Lewis and Thijs De Ridder postgame press conference vs. Drexel
- Associated Press via ESPN: Virginia vs. Drexel game story
- ESPN: Drexel vs. Virginia box score and play-by-play
- NCAA.com: AP Top 25 men's basketball poll
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