In its first Quad 1 game of this season, Northwestern (4-1, 0-0 B1G) was barely out-dueled by undefeated Virginia (5-0, 0-0 ACC) at the Greenbrier Tip-Off in a back-and-forth, free-throw ridden contest where neither team was able to truly pull away.
The ‘Cats were led by transfers Jayden Reid and Arrinten Page. The former had 25 points on 6-of-15 shooting, 2-of-3 from three and 11-of-14 from the free throw line along with his five assists, four rebounds and two steals. The latter had 20 points of his own
on 8-of-14 shooting, 2-of-6 from deep and 2-of-3 from the foul line while pulling down six rebounds.
For the Cavaliers, Thijs De Ridder led all scorers with a career-high 26 points, adding eight rebounds (five offensive), but he fouled out with over five minutes remaining. Off the bench, Chance Mallory was the second leading scorer for UVA with 16 points, also pulling down eight rebounds. However, he too fouled out. Down the stretch, clutch free throws from Dallin Hall and Malik Thomas sealed the game.
Virginia won the opening tip as the second game of the Greenbrier Tip-Off was underway.
It took just about 90 seconds before the first points, and it came on a contested three-pointer from Thomas over Tre Singleton. Angelo Ciaravino answered soon after with a one-handed slam off a Reid steal. The score remained at 3-2 Virginia until Reid made a layup with just under three minutes elapsed.
Nick Martinelli got into the scoring column with his seventh made three pointer of the season to give the ‘Cats a 7-3 lead. On the next possession, European big-man De Ridder was fouled on a made layup as he converted the three point play. At the first media timeout, Northwestern led 7-6.
Out of the break, Page scored his first points of the game with a passionate two-handed dunk off some shiftiness in the post. After Virginia failed to score on its next possession, Ciaravino found a cutting Justin Mullins to get the ‘Cats up to 11 points on the fast break. Thomas answered right back with a two-point jumper of his own, but it was the Page show as he drilled a three-pointer to give NU a 14-8 lead. Ciaravino fouled De Ridder after, the four-year European pro turned first-year, who made both of his foul shots to cut the Cavaliers’ deficit to four.
Jake West scored his first points of the game off a pull-up left-elbow jumper as the ‘Cats started the day shooting 7-of-10 from the floor. Martinelli got fouled on a drive to the basket as he tried to finish with his right hand, converting on just the second free throw. First-year Chance Mallory looked to add some juice off the bench for Virginia as he made a tough layup and then forced a turnover on the defensive end. He was fouled as the second media timeout had been reached, with Northwestern leading 17-12.
Out of the timeout, Mullins quickly picked up a foul as Virginia kept the ball in their offensive zone before Thomas travelled for the Cavaliers’ third turnover of the first half. Virginia continued to dominate on the offensive glass as it reached seven before 10 fill minutes had elapsed. Thomas responded by making his third basket of the game to cut the ‘Cats’ lead to three. After Martinelli missed a jumper, Thomas was fouled by Singleton and sent to the line, making both.
Page ended the UVA 6-0 run with a good right-hand finish inside. Page was feeling it from deep as he chucked up a far one from the left wing, which resulted in a Virginia foul under the basket. Max Green missed his first shot and then fouled right after, putting Mallory at the line as it was Northwestern’s eighth foul of the half. Mallory made both to give the Cavaliers their first lead since being up 3-0. Northwestern took the lead back off a hammer of an alley-oop from Reid to Page. As the game went to its third break, the ‘Cats led 21-20.
As the game resumed, Virginia started with the ball and De Ridder scored after almost losing the ball. After a jump ball, Reid drilled his first three of the game off a handoff from Page. Thomas air-balled a three on the other side, but De Ridder pulled in another offensive rebound for the Cavaliers as he converted the put back to tie the game at 24-24. Following that, Reid found Page again for an alley-oop, this time it being converted with a layup. Coach Chris Collins called his first timeout of the game as Ugonna Onyenso scored in the paint to tie the game at 26-26.
Out of the quick 30-second break, Reid ran the pick-and-roll with Martinelli, who followed his miss to get the offensive rebound as he was fouled on his put back attempt, sending him back to the free throw line. Martinelli missed the first foul shot and made the second like he did earlier to give NU a one-point lead. De Ridder, on the next possession, hit a high-arcing jumper from in the lane to take back the lead. Mullins missed a three pointer, which was followed by the 7-foot German freshman Grunloh drawing a blocking foul, sending him back to the free throw line where he went 1-of-2.
Martinelli couldn’t convert an awkward hook shot on the next possession as Sam Lewis drilled a trey to give UVA its largest lead of the day so far. Martinelli again missed a jumper, but Singleton came in to get the offensive rebound before getting fouled on the putback that was called for a goaltend. The officials looked to review it as the ‘Cats trailed 29-32 (counting the goaltending).
After review, the refs confirmed the goaltending and the foul as Singleton made the free throw. De Ridder, however, started to take over like he has prior this season as he made another inside shot. Mallory then stole the ball and put in the easy layup to give UVA a six point lead. He would miss on a step back three, but it led to the Cavaliers’ 10th offensive rebound of the first half and two more free throws for De Ridder. The Belgian forward converted on both foul shots as he extended Virginia’s lead to eight. Page off the pass from Reid made a circus layup to end a 16-6 Cavaliers run as he was fouled and sent to the line. He missed the foul shot, and Virginia continued to play the aggressors as Page was called for a goaltending. Reid responded with a pull-up jumper from the right elbow as he cut the Virginia lead back to six. After a missed three that was out of bounds off Page, Coach Ryan Odom called for a timeout up 40-34 with just 33.8 seconds remaining.
Out of the quick timeout, Virginia almost had yet another offensive board as the ball barely got away from Thomas. Reid used his speed to go downhill as he missed the initial layup, but got his rebound and went back up to get fouled and sent to the free throw line. He made both foul shots to cut UVA’s lead to four. Virginia tried to stretch the lead before the half, but Mallory’s deep three-pointer hit the front rim. Virginia was up 40-36 as halftime began.
Page led all Wildcats with 13 points in the first half as he shot 6-of-9 from the floor. Reid was second in scoring for NU with nine points on 3-of-7 shooting (1-of-1 from three, 2-of-2 from the free throw line) to go along with four assists and two steals. Despite shooting 46.7% (14-of-30) from the field and 42.9% (3-of-7) from three, the ’Cats were shooting just 62.5% (5-of-8) from the foul line.
Virginia was led by the experienced De Ridder, as he scored 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting and a perfect 5-of-5 from the foul line to go along with seven rebounds (five offensive, two defensive). Thomas had nine points on 3-of-6 shooting, good for second-most for the Cavaliers. The big story of the first half was the rebounding battle: Virginia was out-rebounding Northwestern 24 to 13, including 12 offensive rebounds.
The Cavaliers started with possession to open the second half as Thomas missed his first shot. Ciaravino made a tough layup off the pass from Singleton in his first minutes since being subbed out when he picked up his second foul early in the first half. De Ridder answered right back with a floater. Reid hoisted up a triple that went right through the net double-digits. Page then got the lead back for Northwestern with a poster dunk over Grunloh.
De Ridder fought back as he scored a tough right-handed layup through contact to get the lead back and to eclipse 20 points, but would pick up his third foul on the defensive end as he was subbed out. Page continued to be the hot hand as he drilled a step back three to give NU a two point lead and extend the ‘Cats’ scoring run to 14-4. Lewis responded right after with his second basket of the day to tie it at 46-46.
Singleton made a wide open three from the left corner after good passing from the ‘Cats, which was responded to by Lewis making another layup. Reid then got fouled and made both free throws. Northwestern’s momentum continued as Reid made a floater to bring the lead to 53-48, forcing Odom to take a timeout.
Out of the timeout, De Ridder came back in despite the three fouls. Grunloh missed a three from the top of the key as Martinelli made his first field goal since his early three pointer. With the lead now at seven for the ‘Cats, the game reached a media timeout. Northwestern held a 55-48 lead.
Coming back from break, Page picked up his third foul and was taken out of the game. Virginia ended a 6-0 Northwestern scoring run off a deep right-wing trey from Mallory. Reid couldn’t respond as he missed a pull-up jumper, followed by him picking up his third foul with 13:36 still remaining. Ciaravino continued his strong showing by scooping up a lost ball and slamming it home. Off of turnovers, the ‘Cats had 13 points. Mallory drew another foul on his next drive, bringing the total for NU up to seven with still plenty of time remaining. Mallory made both foul shots to cut the Wildcats’ lead to four.
Grunloh got his first block of the game on West, but the ‘Cats forced a turnover on the other end as Martinelli made a hook shot over the German big-man. De Ridder would answer right back with a layup of his own off a great pass from Thomas, but West then would make his second basket of the day, this one a pull-up jumper from the free throw line. Singleton was called for his third foul when defending De Ridder as the under-12 media timeout came. Northwestern still held the lead at 61-55.
De Ridder made just the second free throw as he reached his new career-high of 24 points. On NU’s offensive possession proceeding, Martinelli was called for an offensive foul—also his third. Lewis drilled a pull-up middie as UVA cut the Northwestern lead to three as the ‘Cats then turned the ball over for just the second time in the second half. With 9:59 remaining, Singleton was called for his fourth foul, putting Virginia in the two-shot bonus the rest of the way. De Ridder made both of his foul shots bring his Cavs down just one. He then blocked Reid before Hall drilled a wide-open three to give Virginia its first lead since being up 44-43, forcing Collins to call a timeout down 63-61.
Coming out of the timeout, Mullins made a tough turnaround fade in the paint to end Virginia’s 8-0 run. Hall was blocked by Martinelli as Reid was fouled grabbing the loose ball. After the foul, Reid used his quickness to get to the basket as he was fouled, converting the and-1 and reaching a Northwestern career high of 19 points. With under eight minutes to go, the ‘Cats held a 66-63 lead at the media break.
Mallory was fouled and sent to the line out of the timeout, making the second of his two foul shots. Grunloh was called for a foul away from the ball, giving Page a one-and-one. He made both free throws, getting him up to 20 points on the day. Lewis turned the ball over on the next possession after being called for a travel. Mallory would soon find Grunloh for an alley-oop to cut the NU lead to two as De Ridder was back in playing with four fouls. Reid was sent to the line for a one-and-one off a foul, but missed the first free throw. Reid came up big on defense though as he blocked Grunloh to prevent an easy basket. After De Ridder’s pass to Grunloh was batted away by Martinelli, Reid found Mullins who was fouled by the Belgian star. With the score at 68-66 in Northwestern’s favor, De Ridder was now out for the remaining 5:44 after his fifth foul.
Mullins missed his first free throw before making his second to give NU a three point lead. After neither team scored for the next minute, Reid picked up his fourth foul, sending Mallory to the line. He made both of them to cut the NU lead to just one. On the proceeding inbound, Hall and Reid were tangled up closely with the initial foul being called on Hall. The referee’s took a second look at the play as Hall said he was hooked by Reid with the Wildcats leading 69-68.
The call stood on Hall (his third) as Reid found himself back on the free throw line. He just made the first but still reached 20 points for the first time as a Wildcat. Mullins was then called for a foul against Mallory, and the free throws continued with both teams in the double bonus. Mallory hit both to tie the game at 70 apiece, the sixth time tied in this one. Off a Page screen, Reid couldn’t convert on a pull-up three. Thomas then drove on Page, drawing another foul as the game went to another timeout. Northwestern and Virginia were knotted up at 70-70 with two foul shots pending for the Cavaliers.
Virginia took the lead back with Thomas making the second of the two free throws before Martinelli missed a shot that bounced in-and-out. Page missed a three as the ‘Cats hadn’t made a field-goal in the last five minutes, shooting 0-of-5 in that time. Hall gave the Cavaliers a four-point lead, their largest of the second half, as he drilled a triple. Mallory fouled Reid on the other end, sending the junior back to the free throw line. He made both shots, cutting the UVA lead to two. Grunloh missed a layup being closely defended by Page as Mallory fouled Reid, his fifth. Reid made the first foul shot but missed the second as Virginia kept the lead. The Cavaliers got two consecutive offensive rebounds (20 total) before calling a timeout up 74-73 with just 1:11 remaining.
Virginia couldn’t score as Northwestern had a fast-break chance. Off the missed layup from Reid, Singleton was called for an over-the-back foul on the put back attempt as he fouled out, sending Hall to the line. He made both free throws, putting the Cavs up 76-73. Page was open for three in the right corner, but Grunloh came up huge with a block on his deep attempt. Ciaravino then fouled quickly, sending Hall back to the stripe. Again he made both foul shots, extending the Cavaliers’ lead to five. Martinelli missed a hook shot in the paint as UVA got the rebound and had Hall go back to the free throw line. He missed the first one but made the second. K.J. Windham missed an open corner three, but the ball went out off Thomas for NU to have another chance to score. Collins called a timeout with just 12.5 seconds left as the ‘Cats were down 79-73.
Windham had another shot from the corner, this time drilling it as he was falling into his bench. With 8.8 seconds now remaining, Northwestern was down 76-79 as Collins called his final timeout and after the ‘Cats had made their first field-goal in eight minutes. Virginia was forced to take a timeout on the inbound pass as Northwestern’s defense held strong. On the next inbound, Virginia got the ball into Thomas who was promptly fouled. He made both foul shots to give the Cavaliers an 81-76 lead. Reid was then fouled with just 3.0 seconds remaining, the 50th total foul called in the game and the 32nd in the second half. Reid made both free throws to cut UVA’s lead to three, followed by Devin Tillis getting the ball into Thomas. He made both free throws, sealing the victory for Virginia as it held off Northwestern 83-78.
Coming up next, Northwestern takes on South Carolina at the Greenbrier Tip-Off this Sunday, Nov. 23rd. For Virginia, it’s a matchup with Butler at the same location on the same day.
