By Jerry Ratcliffe
Underdog Virginia brought what Ryan Odom said was its ‘A Game’ to the Lone Star state Wednesday night and obliterated Texas, 88-69, in an ACC/SEC Challenge matchup.
The Cavaliers (7-1) couldn’t have played better, as they used a 12-0 run and a barrage of 3-pointers — nine — to bury the Longhorns (6-3) by halftime (46-27). Texas had no answers and didn’t come any closer than 17 points the rest of the game.
Not only did UVA bomb the nets with a dozen triples (eight different Cavaliers made at least one 3-pointer), but they produced an intensity on defense that demoralized the ‘Horns. Texas opened the season struggling to shoot the ball, particularly from the arc, but overcame those woes in the recent Maui Invitational, including a 102-97 win over then-No. 23 NC State.
Virginia’s defense would have none of that and held the Texans to a mere 4 of 19 from the 3-point line and 40.7 percent from the field. The ‘Horns averaged 90.9 points per game coming in and had been held to less than 70 points only once this season, in a 75-60 opening loss to Duke.
While the gritty defense brought a wide smile to Odom’s face, it was Virginia’s offensive firepower that deflated the Longhorns. The Cavaliers were so proficient at steamrolling Texas’ defense that Coach Sean Miller ripped into his players afterward.
“We’re too easy to score on,” Miller said. “We have to fix that. We have to be better. We have to do things that we’re capable of doing, and we have to have just more of an inner fight and toughness on that side of the ball to be able to defend the shot, challenge the shot, rebound the ball, defend the man in front of you. A lot of where we go from here starts with that word: Defense.”
Odom had no such complaints, noting that the Cavaliers haven’t played this kind of defense this season. Part of UVA’s focus was Texas 7-foot Lithuanian center Matas Vokietaitis, who came into the game averaging 15.5 points and 7 rebounds and had terrorized opposing defenses.
Virginia’s plan was to prevent Vokietaitis from catching the ball deep, and that strategy worked for the most part, with the big Longhorn finishing with only 7 points (2 of 7) and 4 boards.
“We have two 7-footers and this was a big test for them,” Odom said.
It was Texas that had trouble handling everything that UVA threw its way. One of those big men, 7-foot German Johann Grünloh, teamed with European teammate Thijs De Ridder (Belgium) to score 15 points each, some from the arc, but also attacking inside.
All that opened up the perimeter for the Cavaliers’ shooters and stretched the Texas defense to the point that guards, such as freshman Chance Mallory, could drive at will and attack the basket.
Coming in as an underdog (Texas was a 2.5-point favorite) sparked UVA and Mallory.
“I would say underdog is the right word,” Mallory said. “But I feel like we just came in this game with an intensity that we didn’t have in the past. Coming off a loss to Butler, we really wanted to make a statement and prove that we are a team that punches first.”
Virginia punched first, second, third and often, so much that Texas was really out of it by halftime.
“We kind of let them making shots affect our offensive play,” said Pope. “It kind of discouraged us and we never really drew that line in the sand to where we just put our foot down, get stops to be able to run in transition and get good looks. You’re never really able to find a rhythm. When you’re taking the ball out of the net the whole game, it’s tough.”
Music to Odom’s ears.
The Virginia coach boasted how Virginia is a tough team to match up against when clicking on all cylinders with the big men in the post, the perimeter shooters and players like Mallory, who can attack the basket (game-high 16 points, 8 of 9 from the free-throw line after drawing five fouls on his penetrations).
With a momentum-building road win, the Cavaliers travel to Charlotte on Saturday for a neutral-court meeting with Dayton. Odom plans on packing that ‘A Game’ for the trip.
