Thijs De Ridder scored 22 points in 22 minutes on Wednesday, helping No. 14 Virginia pummel Georgia Tech 94-68 in Atlantic Coast Conference play in Atlanta.
Malik Thomas added 17 points and Dallin Hall had 12 points and 10 assists for Virginia (23-3, 11-2 ACC), which extended its winning streak to seven. Johann Grunloh finished with 11 points in the dominant win.
Jaeden Mustaf paced Georgia Tech (11-16, 2-12) with 18 points, followed by Baye Ndongo’s 13 and Kowacie Reeves Jr.’s 12. The Yellow Jackets trailed by as many as 38 points in their eighth straight loss.
Virginia tacked on to its 32-point lead in the opening minute of the second half, as Thomas’ trey and Grunloh’s layup gave the Cavaliers a 64-27 advantage.
Mustaf’s 3-pointer and Ndongo’s subsequent free throws marked a rare set of consecutive scoring trips for Georgia Tech, which trimmed Virginia’s lead to 31 with 12:59 left.
De Ridder answered with back-to-back fastbreak dunks and a layup to extend the lead to 80-43.
Georgia Tech pieced together a 16-5 spurt to pull within 26 with five minutes remaining. The Yellow Jackets outscored the Cavaliers 41-35 in the second half.
Virginia opened the game on a 14-3 run, holding Georgia Tech without a made field goal until Mustaf’s floater at the 14:39 mark.
The visitors answered the rare Yellow Jackets basket with a 13-0 spurt, taking a commanding 27-5 lead on Hall’s layup and De Ridder’s three-point play. Georgia Tech reserve Cole Kirouac’s hook shot temporarily stopped the bleeding, before another run — this time a 12-0 stretch — extended Virginia’s overwhelming advantage to 39-7 with 7:47 left in the first half.
Virginia’s eighth 3-pointer of the first half, drilled by Chance Mallory, was followed with Ugonna Onyenso’s jumper, pushing the margin to 35 with 4:18 remaining.
Hall buried Virginia’s 10th triple of the first half in the closing minutes, sending the Cavaliers into halftime with a 59-27 lead. De Ridder led all scorers with 13 first-half points, while Reeves and Mustaf scored eight points apiece for the Yellow Jackets.
–Field Level Media
