Malik Thomas scored 20 points and No. 23 Virginia pulled away early in the second half for an 84-60 victory against Cal in Atlantic Coast Conference action Wednesday night in Charlottesville, Va.
The Cavaliers (13-2, 2-1 ACC) improved to 9-0 at home and 11-0 when outrebounding their opponents, compiling a decisive 45-26 advantage on the glass.
Ugonna Onyenso had 12 points, nine rebounds and four of the Cavaliers’ nine blocked shots. Sam Lewis, Thijs De Ridder and Johann Grunloh each scored 12 points.
The Golden Bears (13-3, 1-2) were held to a season low in points and dropped to 0-3 when giving up more than 72 points.
Dai Dai Ames, who played at Virginia last season, led Cal with 18 points. Justin Pippen added 17 with five steals and John Camden had 15 points. Chris Bell, who came in averaging 14.8 points, was scoreless on 0-for-6 shooting.
Leading by 10 at intermission, Virginia broke the game open with a 14-2 run to begin the second half.
De Ridder’s fastbreak layup after a steal by Chance Mallory capped that stretch and made it 57-35 with 13:04 left.
After Pippen’s dunk with 17:50 remaining, Cal was scoreless until Pippen hit two free throws with 12:15 to play.
The Cavaliers’ lead ballooned to 66-41 on 7-footer Grunloh’s 3-pointer with 8:18 left.
Virginia shot 50% (30 of 60) from the field and held Cal to 35.2%, including 15.8% (3 of 19) from 3-point range.
Thomas sank three of his five 3-pointers in the first half, including one with three seconds left to send Virginia into halftime with a 43-33 lead.
Thomas scored 11 points and Lewis had 10 in the first half for Virginia. Cal got 12 points from Pippen and 10 from Ames before the break.
The Golden Bears took their first lead since 3-2 at 19-17 on Pippen’s jumper midway through the first half, but the Cavaliers answered with 3-pointers on their next three possessions.
