Virginia shoots lights out in Texas to win ACC/SEC Challenge game

Reserve guard Chance Mallory scored 16 points on a perfect showing from the floor and eight made free throws to lead a balanced offensive attack as Virginia walloped Texas 88-69 on Wednesday in an ACC/SEC Challenge clash in Austin, Texas.

Virginia (7-1) put together a scintillating first half, building as much as a 21-point lead before carrying a 19-point edge into halftime. The Cavaliers never took their collective feet off the accelerator, expanding the margin to 27 points nine minutes into the second half and cruised to the finish line.

Virginia won its second straight game after suffering its only loss of the year to Butler in the Greenbriar Tip-Off on Nov. 23. Johan Grunloh added 15 points for the Cavaliers, with Thijs De Ridder scoring 13, Malik Thomas hitting for 11 and Jacari White contributing 10 points.

Dailyn Swain led Texas (6-3) with 15 points and Jordan Pope scored 10 for the Longhorns, who have dropped two of their past three games. Swain led all rebounders with 10 to reach the double-double plateau.

After breaking away from a 9-8 Texas lead at the 15:40 mark of the first half, the Cavaliers ran away with the rest of the half with a dynamite, across the board showing. Virginia took charge with a 12-0 run over the ensuing three and a half minutes, going up 20-9 on a 3-pointer by White with 12:52 to play in the half.

The Longhorns drew to within 10 points after Pope's jumper with 8:25 remaining before halftime. Virginia then scored the next seven points, capped by two free throws by De Ridder, to make it 34-17. Texas sliced its deficit to 11 points with its own 6-0 surge, but the Cavaliers regained their stride, building the margin to a half-high 21 points when Dallin Hall canned a 3-pointer with 42 seconds left.

Virginia settled for a 46-27 advantage at the break after shooting 51.6 % from the floor, making 9 of 18 shots from beyond the arc and assisting on 12 of its 16 made field goals in the first half.

Grunloh led all scorers with a dozen points while White hit for 10 before halftime for the Cavaliers. No Texas player scored more than six points in a poor-shooting first 20 minutes of play.

The Longhorns never made a serious run at Virginia in the second half. Texas drew to within 18 points as late as the 15:42 mark before the Cavaliers shrugged aside any notion of a comeback with a 13-4 run that netted them a 68-41 advantage with 11:04 to play.

Virginia continued to blister the nets in the second half and finished the game shooting 53.8% (28 of 52) from the floor and 50.0% (12 of 24) from behind the arc.

--Field Level Media