No. 9 Virginia opened its season on Tuesday night with an easy win. In the Virginia Drexel game at John Paul Jones Arena, the Cavaliers won 89 to 60. Thijs De Ridder set the tone early.

De Ridder leads the way

De Ridder scored 24 points on 9 of 15 shooting. He also grabbed nine rebounds and had two steals in just under 27 minutes.

Sam Lewis added 20 points. In fact, he made a game high four threes. Meanwhile, Johann Grünloh had 11 points and nine rebounds.

Defense sets a record

The defense was just as loud. Virginia had 18 steals, which the school says is a JPJ record. As a result, the Cavaliers scored 25 points off turnovers. Chance Mallory had four of those steals.

UVA led 51 to 27 at the half. A crowd of 12,487 watched.

Overall, Virginia shot 47.8 percent and made 10 of 29 threes. The Cavaliers also won the boards 42 to 33.

What they said

Even so, Ryan Odom was not fully satisfied. “I was hoping for more at the beginning of the second half,” he said.

His players liked the start, though. “I feel like we just came out and punched them in the face,” Lewis said.

Drexel coach Zach Spiker came away impressed. “Great depth, great skill, great size,” he said. “They’re going to be a tough team, home and away.”

Next, Virginia hosts Northeastern on Friday at 5 p.m. on ACC Network.