Transfers Sam Hauser and Trey Murphy III made successful Virginia debuts Wednesday, leading the No. 4 Cavaliers to a season-opening 89-54 victory against Towson at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.

The arrival of Hauser, a senior transfer from Marquette who sat out last season, was widely anticipated. He tallied 17 of his 19 points in the first half and added a team-high eight rebounds. He was 3-for-3 from behind the arc.

The arrival of Murphy, who scored 21 points and made 6-of-8 3-pointers, was a surprise, however. He played two seasons at Rice and found out just before the game that the NCAA had approved his waiver for immediate eligibility.

Jay Huff added 14 points and three blocks for Virginia.

Nicolas Timberlake was the only Towson player in double figures with 19 points.

Virginia held a comfortable 42-19 lead at halftime. Towson didn't reach double figures until Jason Gibson's layup with 8:17 left in the half.

The Tigers scored the first eight points of the second half and Timberlake knocked down three 3-pointers during a 13-5 run to pull Towson within 47-32 with 16:07 remaining.

But Virginia put the game away with a 22-0 run, including two 3-pointers and a three-point play by Murphy, and led 73-36 with 7:35 to play.

It's only one game, but the Cavaliers looked much sharper offensively than they did in 2019-20.

Coming off their 2018-19 national championship, Virginia struggled shooting the ball last season and averaged just 57.0 points (351st nationally) while shooting 30.4 percent from 3-point range (315th).

Against Towson, the Cavaliers shot 55.6 percent from the field and 51.7 percent (15 of 29) from 3-point range. Seven players made at least one 3-pointer.

UVA won its eighth consecutive season opener and improved to 11-1 in openers under head coach Tony Bennett.

The Cavaliers improved to 7-0 all-time against the Tigers.

--Field Level Media