Thijs De Ridder's 17 points leads No. 17 Virginia past Boston College 73-66

BOSTON (AP) — Thijs De Ridder scored 17 points, Malik Thomas had 14 and No. 17 Virginia held off Boston College 73-66 on Saturday.

Chance Mallory added 11 points for the Cavaliers (18-3, 7-2 Atlantic Coast Conference).

Donald Hand Jr., son of former Cavaliers’ star Donald Hand (1998-01), led the Eagles (9-12, 2-6) with 20 points. Fred Payne added 17 points for the Eagles.

Getting to the basket relatively easily most of the game, Virginia took its first lead of the game, 41-38, on Sam Lewis’ three-point play 4½ minutes into the second half.

The Cavaliers pushed their advantage to seven a few minutes later on Thomas’ twisting layup when he was in a stretch of scoring eight of their 11 points.

BC rallied but the Cavaliers took the lead for good on White’s 3-pointer from the top of the key with just under 10 minutes to play that made it 55-52.

The Eagles kept it within a two-possession game until Ugonna Onyenson’s dunk made it 72-64 with a little under a minute left in the game.

Overcoming their biggest deficit en route to a victory in 20 years during a double-overtime thriller at Notre Dame on Tuesday, the Cavaliers found themselves behind for the final 18 minutes of the first half.

The Eagles, who shot 50% (14 of 28), led by five after 20 minutes.

Virginia, which came into the day leading the ACC in both rebounds and offensive boards per game, used that advantage to keep it close.

The Cavaliers outrebounded BC 39-33, but got 14 on the offensive end to the Eagles’ eight.

UP NEXT

Virginia: Host Pittsburgh on Tuesday.

Boston College: At No. 4 Duke on Tuesday.

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

Virginia guard Chance Mallory (2) scores during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Boston College, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Boston College guard Donald Hand Jr., left, keeps the ball in bounds against Virginia guard Dallin Hall (30) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Virginia guard Malik Thomas (1) drives to the hoop against Boston College guard Aidan Shaw (23) and guard Donald Hand Jr. (13) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Virginia guard Dallin Hall, left, dribbles around Boston College guard Luka Toews, right, during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

NEW YORK (AP) — Americans are drinking more coffee than they have in decades. But fewer of them are getting it from Starbucks.

The company that revolutionized the United States' coffee culture remains America's biggest player, with nearly 17,000 U.S. stores and plans to open hundreds more. But it's facing unprecedented competition, which will make it harder to win back the customers it already lost.

Starbucks’ share of spending at all U.S. coffee shops fell in 2024 and 2025; it now stands at 48%, down from 52% in 2023, according to Technomic, a food industry consulting firm. Dunkin ', a perennial rival that just opened its 10,000th U.S. store, gained market share in both of those years.

Starbucks has other challengers, like the fast-growing drive-thru chains 7 Brew, Scooter’s Coffee and Dutch Bros. Chinese chains like Luckin Coffee and Mixue are opening U.S. stores. High-end coffee shop Blue Bottle, which has 78 U.S. stores, has opened two more since the start of the year. Even McDonald’s and Taco Bell are bolstering their beverage offerings.

“People haven’t fallen out of love with Starbucks, but they’re now polyamorous in their coffee choices,” said Chris Kayes, chair of the management department in the George Washington University School of Business. “People are now experimenting with other coffees, and they’re seeing what’s out there.”

Americans love coffee. In both 2024 and 2025, an estimated 66% of Americans reported drinking coffee every day, up from 62% in 2020, according to the National Coffee Association, an industry trade group.

Coffee chains are racing to cash in on that demand. The number of chain coffee stores in the U.S. jumped 19% to more than 34,500 over the last six years, according to Technomic, a consulting firm that researches the foodservice industry.

Seattle-based Starbucks was a small, regional chain when former CEO Howard Schultz acquired it in 1987. Now, other small chains are seeing explosive growth. Nebraska-based Scooter’s Coffee had 200 locations in 2019; it now has more than 850. Arkansas-based 7 Brew, which had 14 locations in 2019, now has more than 600.

“There’s too much supply relative to demand,” said Neil Saunders, a managing director and retail analyst at consulting firm GlobalData Retail

Saunders said Starbucks' size is somewhat of a disadvantage, since it has less ability to grow sales by opening new locations.

“Honestly, they’re pretty saturated,” Saunders said. “They’re a very mature business.”

Starbucks is undaunted. At a conference for investors on Thursday, the company said an ongoing effort to improve service while making stores warmer and more welcoming was boosting U.S. store traffic. It plans to add 25,000 seats to its U.S. cafes by this fall.

“Growth doesn’t require us to become something new. It requires us to be exceptionally good at what we already are,” Starbucks Chief Operating Officer Mike Grams said.

Starbucks expects to open more than 575 new U.S. stores over the next three years. It developed a smaller-format store that is cheaper to build but still has indoor seating, drive-thru lanes and mobile pickup. The company said the reduced scale would allow Starbucks stores to operate in locations they couldn't before.

Starbucks is also adding new products, like updated pastries and snackable foods that are high in protein and fiber, to try to win back customers.

Lack of menu innovation is one reason Starbucks has struggled, especially among younger consumers who like novelty and will try new places to find it, Saunders said.

Arizona-based Dutch Bros, for example, added protein coffee drinks in January 2024, nearly two years before Starbucks did. Energy drinks make up 25% of Dutch Bros' business almost 14 years after the chain introduced them. Starbucks offered iced energy drinks for a limited time in 2024; executives said Thursday that customizable energy drinks would appear on the Starbucks menu soon.

Dutch Bros, which is led by former Starbucks executive Christine Barone, has just over 1,000 shops in the U.S. and hopes to double that number by 2029. It's betting that customers want speed and convenience; nearly all of its stores are drive-thrus with walk-up windows.

Dutch Bros also focuses on value. In a recent meeting with investors, Barone pointed out that Dutch Bros’ medium drinks are 24 ounces; at Starbucks, a medium drink is 16 ounces.

Luckin, whose app brims with coupons and promotions, is also value-oriented. On a recent afternoon, one of its nine New York stores buzzed with customers picking up mobile orders. The tiny shop had no seating.

Xunyi Xie, who was visiting New York from his home in Delaware, said he stopped by to try a Velvet Latte because Luckin had a $1.99 drink promotion. Xie said he normally brews his own espresso, but if Luckin opened a store that was on his way to work, he would go there.

As for Starbucks? “I think it's overpriced,” Xie said.

In 2024, the average customer spent $9.34 at Starbucks, compared to $8.44 at Dutch Bros and $4.68 at Dunkin', according to an analysis by the investment research company Morningstar.

Starbucks didn't raise prices in its 2025 fiscal year and has vowed to be judicious about future increases. But Ari Felhandler, an equity analyst with Morningstar, said it would be a mistake for Starbucks to try to win over customers with discounts because competitors will always go lower.

“Keep your prices the same and try to justify them,” Felhandler said. He thinks Starbucks' store redesigns and new menu items will bring back traffic.

Grams, Starbucks' chief operating officer, said the company firmly believes its best way forward is not drive-thru-only stores or mobile pickup kiosks. It's building cafes with comfortable seating — the “soul of Starbucks,” as he put it — that also serve mobile, drive-thru and delivery customers. Customers sometimes want something convenient, and they sometimes want to dwell, he said.

“There’s always going to be competition. We’re aware of it, we keep an eye on it for sure, but we don’t try to be them," Grams told The Associated Press. "We offer something that most people don’t, which is a legitimate space to sit down, enjoy and use it for a variety of different reasons.”

But Kayes, of George Washington University, wonders if that strategy will be enough to keep Starbucks on top, or if customers who want a cozy or premium experience have already moved on to independent coffee shops or upscale chains like Blue Bottle.

“In some ways, I think they are a victim of their own success,” Kayes said. “I do think that the aura of Starbucks as being something special and unique and exciting isn’t there anymore.”

Employees work in a Luckin Coffee store in New York, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Pedestrians pass a Luckin Coffee store in New York, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Signage displays in the window and a cup sits on the counter of a Luckin Coffee store in New York, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A Ristretto model of future Starbucks stores is displayed during the Starbucks Investor Day event, in New York, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Mike Grams speaks during the Starbucks Investor Day event, with an image of the company's Mastrena 3 espresso machine, in New York, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)