ROANOKE, Va. – The Virginia Cavaliers rolled to an 87-53 victory over Rider Broncs in coach Ryan Odom’s debut. Freshman forward Thijs de Ridder leading the way. De Ridder poured in 21 points on 10-of-14 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds (six on the offensive glass) in just 24 minutes of action. He showed a polished low-block attack, mixing floaters and hook shots, and even knocked down a three in transition. The Cavs dominated the boards and the pace, exploiting their size and finishing with a dominant margin.
In Blacksburg, Virginia Tech earned a season-opening 98-67 win over Charleston Southern. Two Hokies recorded double-doubles, Tobi Lawal (20 points, 12 rebounds) and Amani Hansberry (19 points, 13 rebounds). Tech dominated the paint scoring 42 points and shooting 46 percent from the field.
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Liberty opened the 2025-26 season with a 98-57 home win against Kentucky Christian on Monday night at Liberty Arena. The Flames were led by Brett Decker Jr., who scored a career-high 29 points in his first career start. Zach Cleveland added 13 points and 10 rebounds for his first career double-double, while JJ Harper (11 points) and Ryan Jones Jr. (10 points) also reached double figures in their Liberty debuts.
VMI downed Johnson & Wales on opening night, 122-58. The Keydets (1-0) made quick work of the Wildcats by opening the game with an 18-0 lead before J&W made a three-pointer at the 13:07 mark to end the VMI run. Junior Tan Yildizoglu made the first basket of the season on a fastbreak following a Wildcat turnover and Linus Holmstrom converted the first VMI three-pointer of the year to give VMI an 11-0 advantage during the run.The Keydets gradually built their lead the remainder of the half to go into the break with a 58-15 advantage. The 64-point margin of victory ties for the seventh-highest margin of victory in program history to match the 98-34 win over Goucher back on November 11, 2018.
In Zach Chu’s first season as head coach, Radford held on to defeat Western Illinois 80-75. Del Jones made his presence felt early and often, scoring a career-high 22 points as Radford opened the 2025-26 season with a win over Western Illinois. After being outscored 11-2 in second-chance points during the first half, the Highlanders flipped the script after the break, holding a 14-12 edge in that category. Radford struggled early from long range, connecting on just two of its first 11 three-point attempts, but improved to 36% in the second half behind key shots from Jaylon Johnson and Brennan Rigsby Jr. The Highlanders’ fast-paced offense was on full display, generating 18 fast-break points. Defensively, Radford outpaced Western Illinois in blocks 5-2, with four of those coming in the opening 20 minutes. The season-opening win marks Radford’s first since 2021 and its first against a Division I opponent since 2015.
As for the Radford women, they fell short on the road at ACC opponent Wake Forest 71-64.