GREENSBORO, N.C. -- The post-Malcolm Brogdon era began with a win for No. 8 Virginia Friday night as the team opened up its season with a 76-51 road win over UNC Greensboro.

The Cavaliers shot 52 percent for the game and knocked down eight 3-pointers to pull away with the 25-point win.

"I think a key of ours is going to be balance," Virginia head coach Tony Bennett said. "We are a team that is a balanced scoring team and we are going to have to be that way."

To Bennett's liking, four Cavaliers scored in double figures as Marial Shayok led all scorers with 15 points. Fellow guard Darius Thompson chipped in with 12 points.

"You can look at the stats and we had a lot of guys in double figures or upwards of seven or eight points," Bennett said. "It was good to see Darius knock down some threes so that helps."

Thompson finished the game making 3 of 4 attempts from beyond the arc.

Senior point guard London Perrantes, who has established himself as one of the top guards in the ACC, scored 10 points for Virginia (1-0) while dishing our three assists. Forward Isaiah Wilkins was one rebound shy of a double-double as he scored 10 points and pulled down nine rebounds.

UNC Greensboro (0-1) was led by guard Francis Alonso, who scored a team-high 14 points for the Spartans. UNC Greensboro shot just 37 percent and turned the ball over 13 times against a Cavaliers' defense that looks to continue its defensive prowess despite losing key cogs from last year's team.

"Virginia is a damn good basketball team," UNC Greensboro head coach Wes Miller said. "We are going to be a good team at some point this year."

Virginia outrebounded UNC Greensboro 35-21 and got 32 points from its bench compared to just six from the Spartans.

"I thought we lost our composure a little bit there in the first half," Miller said. "We really thought we could compete to win this game and when it got away from us a little bit early, we allowed that moment to affect how we responded. We have to learn and build on that. I'm really thankful for this game."

Virginia was hot from the 3-point line out of the gate as it hit 3 of 4 attempts and led by 11 points early in the game.

UNC Greensboro would get as close as two during the first 20 minutes but the Cavaliers used a 25-2 run late in the half to take a 42-17 lead into the halftime break.

Virginia shot 54 percent in the first half and was led by Shayok, who poured in nine points. Thompson added seven points including two from the 3-point line. The Cavaliers held the Spartans to 32 percent shooting in the half and recorded 16 points off of 10 Spartan turnovers.

"I thought in the first half we had a real nice way about us," Bennett said. "I thought we were flying around and I just thought we stayed continuous in the first half. For the most part I liked our tenacity and defensive positioning in the half."

Forward R.J. White led UNC Greensboro with seven first-half points, but was limited due to two early fouls.

NOTES: Virginia F Austin Nichols and F Mamadi Diakite were unavailable for Friday's game due to team violations. ... The Cavaliers are now 18-1 in their last 19 season opening games. ... This is the first meeting all-time between the two schools. ... UNC Greensboro R.J. White played just 11 minutes in the first half due to foul trouble. ... Head coach Tony Bennett announced after the game that freshmen De'Andre Hunter and Jay Huff will redshirt this season for the Cavaliers.