CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Thijs De Ridder scored a career-high 27 points and grabbed eight rebounds as No. 21 Virginia rolled to a 95-51 victory over American University on Monday night.

Malik Thomas, Sam Lewis and Elijah Gertrude each added 11 points as the Cavaliers (11-1) headed into their holiday break on a six-game winning streak.

Julen Iturbe had 13 points to pace the Eagles (7-6), held to 32% shooting from the field and six free throws.

Virginia made 62% from the floor and outrebounded American 45-23.

Already up 45-25 at halftime, the Cavaliers opened the second half by outscoring American 20-8 in the first eight minutes.

Virginia’s big spark off the bench, Jacari White, sat out with an injured left wrist. White fractured the wrist in Saturday’s win over Maryland, apparently when he fell to the court after throwing down a highlight-reel dunk.

White averages 10.9 points per game. He wore a cast on his left hand and lower wrist Monday.

Former UVA women’s basketball All-American and current South Carolina coach Dawn Staley attended the game.

American freshman Madden Collins is the son of Ari Moore, who played for Staley at Temple.

Virginia honored Staley with a video montage during a timeout in the first half, then showed her seated along the sideline across from the American bench.

Up next

American: The Eagles are off until Dec. 31, when they host Loyola Maryland in their Patriot League opener.

Virginia: The Cavaliers begin ACC play at rival Virginia Tech on Dec. 31.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

Copyright
© 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Union running back Curtis Allen made history by becoming the first player from a Historically Black College or University to win the Harlan Hill Trophy as Division II college football’s player of the year.

Allen, in his only season as the Panthers’ starting running back, rewrote the program’s record books and captured the 39th annual award after a dominant campaign.

The senior finished 82 votes ahead of the second-place finisher and broke a 10-year streak of quarterbacks winning the honor, which is Division II’s equivalent to the Heisman Trophy.

Allen set a new Division II single-season rushing record with 2,409 yards in just 12 games, along with a nation-leading 30 rushing touchdowns. He also broke the CIAA single-season rushing mark.

“It really sounds crazy because, you know, I really thought Jada (Byers) won last year, but I thought he was a finalist, but I thought he won,” Allen said. “So for me to actually win it, that’s actually kind of crazy. Because I feel like Jada could have possibly been a better running back than me. I just took what he did and did a little bit, you know better than him.”

Allen also recently won the 2025 Willie Laneir Award for his outstanding performance on the field.

Virginia Union’s Curtis Allen takes home Lanier Award

This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.