Virginia

The Good, Bad and Ugly From Virginia’s Dominant Win Over California

Published

4 months ago

on

January 8, 2026

By

Press Room

The Virginia Cavaliers clinched yet another conference win last night, this time against California. Overall, this has been a remarkable season for the Cavaliers thus far, with few hiccups along the way. Their latest victory came with a stunning 84-60 finish, but as the story goes, there are still areas that need attention. With that, let’s take a look at the good, the bad and the ugly of last night’s meeting.

The Good

Jan 7, 2026; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers forward Thijs de Ridder (28) passes the ball around California Golden Bears forward John Camden (2) during the second half at John Paul Jones Arena. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images | Amber Searls-Imagn Images

The Cavaliers are undoubtedly more consistent on offense — they’ve encountered quite a few challenges defensively. However, last night appeared to be a bit of a turning point, said cautiously. The Golden Bears’ efforts with the ball were met with great resistance from UVA. Malik Thomas, in particular, has made strides on both sides of the ball, but his defensive improvements have been noteworthy. As head coach Ryan Odom stated during his postgame press conference:

“… I thought our guys did a nice job. The discipline was there for the majority of the night. They did get us on occasion, not on occasion, probably too many times at the end of drives with shot fakes, but for the most part, in that first 10 minutes of the second half, we were able to stop them in and around the rim and stay down. And they were kind of left with some really hard shots there, which allowed us to get out in transition. I thought our press was pretty good. Even though we didn’t get a lot of turnovers or anything like that, I thought our press, you know, was effective.”

The Bad

Jan 7, 2026; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers guard Chance Mallory (2) dribbles the ball as California Golden Bears guard Dai Dai Ames (7) defends during the second half at John Paul Jones Arena. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images | Amber Searls-Imagn Images

Although Virginia wrapped up the matchup with a 24-point lead, there were moments throughout the night in which leads were swapped between programs in the first quarter. Once the second half rolled around, the Golden Bears were unable to catch up. However, the brief moments that they did control the scoreboard could have cost UVA the game, and ultimately, another loss in the ACC.

“I’m not worried about the margin,” said Odom. “It’s more about how we’re playing. And I thought our guys played well tonight, you know, defensively, we’re trying to make strides. We’re trying to get better. The guys are focused on that. Offensively, we can’t lose that, you know, ability to really share the ball and put pressure on our opponents. And I think we’re improving.”

The Ugly

Jan 7, 2026; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers guard Chance Mallory (2) dribbles the ball around California Golden Bears guard Dai Dai Ames (7) during the second half at John Paul Jones Arena. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images | Amber Searls-Imagn Images

Much of the back-and-forth lead during the first quarter was due to Cal’s pressure. Their defense stayed on top of UVA, which ruffled some of the Cavaliers’ feathers on the court, forcing some turnovers along the way.

Odom described this situation by stating, “Cal was really bothering us with their defense, their aggressiveness, and stepping out and pick and roll, even though we didn’t have a ton of turnovers in that first half. We had five. There were still some bobbled balls. The ball was loose and a little bit too loose for us. And their pressure had a lot to do with that. The end of the half was really important for us, the execution on defense and offense to give us a little bit of a cushion there going into halftime.”

Virginia certainly encountered some difficulty last night, but it wasn’t anything they couldn’t successfully navigate. Now, the Cavaliers are gearing up for their upcoming matchup against Stanford on Jan. 10 at John Paul Jones Arena. Will UVA capitalize on its opportunity to extend its ACC record to 3-1?

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Virginia

Virginia Supreme Court voids voter-approved redistricting referendum

Published

4 hours ago

on

May 11, 2026

By

Press Room

Virginia Supreme Court voids voter-approved redistricting referendum

On May 8, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that the General Assembly violated the state constitution when it tried to redraw congressional districts, nullifying the results of the April election in which Virginians narrowly approved redistricting.

Electoral maps are usually redrawn once every 10 years, but multiple states began redrawing them early after President Donald Trump urged Republicans to redraw district lines to ensure more favorable results for the party in the November 2026 elections.

This started a nationwide political battle for control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Texas was the first of several states to redraw districts favoring Republicans, and Virginia Democrats had proposed a constitutional amendment to allow redistricting in order to favor Democrats.

As of May 8, Republicans had initiated redistricting efforts in eight states; Democrats had led redistricting efforts in three states, including Virginia, the Washington Post reported.

In April, Virginia voters supported the redistricting amendment with 51.7% voting for it out of more than 3 million ballots cast. It could have given Democrats up to four extra seats in the U.S. House, according to the Washington Post (subscription required).

But the Virginia Supreme Court, in a 4-3 ruling, found that there were procedural errors in how the Democratic legislature handled the process, nullifying the election results.

The Virginia Constitution says that proposed constitutional amendments must pass in the General Assembly twice before the public can vote on them: once before an election of the House of Delegates, and again after an election. According to the Virginia Supreme Court majority opinion written by Justice D. Arthur Kelsey, early voting for the general election had already been open for six weeks when the General Assembly cast its first vote on the amendment in October 2025, with more than 1.3 million voters having already cast their ballots.

“This violation irreparably undermines the integrity of the resulting referendum vote and renders it null and void,” the court majority opinion stated.

The court’s ruling means the state reverts to the old district maps adopted in 2021. Based on those maps, Virginia voters elected six Democrats and five Republicans to the U.S. House.

Following the court’s ruling, some Virginia Democrats who planned to run for the U.S. House told the New York Times that they have to abandon their campaigns, while others, such as Tom Perriello who is running for the 5th District, face much more difficult campaigns.

Virginia Democrats on Friday asked the court to pause the nullification of the referendum results while they prepare their appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, according to VPM.

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