Malik Thomas had 23 points and 11 rebounds and No. 16 Virginia pulled out a 72-68 win against SMU in a back-and-forth Atlantic Coast Conference contest on Saturday in Dallas.
Thijs De Ridder added 17 points, hitting four free throws down the stretch to give the Cavaliers (16-2, 5-1 ACC) their fifth consecutive victory. Thomas was 6 of 10 from 3-point distance. Devin Tillis added 11 points and Dallin Hall had nine assists.
Virginia turned 16 offensive rebounds into 22 second-chance points and handed SMU (13-5, 2-3) its first home loss after an 11-0 start to the season.
Jaron Pierre Jr. had 16 points to lead the Mustangs. B.J. Edwards added 13 points, Boopie Miller had 12 and Samet Yigitoglu chipped in 10.
Neither team led by more than seven points in a closely contested game with 13 lead changes and five ties.
Virginia led 50-43 on De Ridder’s layup with 15:27 remaining.
SMU surged in front 52-50 with a 9-0 run, capped by Pierre’s dunk with 13:09 remaining for the Mustangs’ first lead since 28-27.
Chance Mallory’s put-back layup gave the Cavaliers a 63-58 edge with 5:19 remaining.
The Mustangs fought back and Miller’s turnaround jumper tied the score at 68-68 with 1:33 to play. DeRidder made two free throws with 1:07 left to put the Cavaliers back on top 70-68.
Hall blocked a game-tying layup attempt by Miller with 47 seconds left before DeRidder extended the lead to 72-68 with two free throws, icing the game with 10.2 seconds remaining.
Virginia finished 12 of 31 (38.7%) from 3-point range, compared to 5 of 13 (38.5%) for SMU.
The Mustangs matched their largest lead of the first half at 24-17 on B.J. Davis-Ray’s 3-pointer with 11:18 left.
The Cavaliers rallied with a 10-2 run, taking their first lead at 27-26 on Mallory’s lob to Ugonna Onyenso.
A 3-pointer by Tillis put Virginia ahead 38-31 with 2:32 left and the Cavaliers led 40-37 at halftime.
–Field Level Media
