By Jerry Ratcliffe
No. 16 Virginia will be facing its toughest challenge of the season thus far this week when the Cavaliers travel for back-to-back road games at No. 20 Louisville (tonight) and No. 22 SMU on Saturday.
Ryan Odom’s Cavaliers (14-2, 3-1) take on Louisville (12-4, 2-2) this evening (7 p.m., KFC-Yum Center, ESPN2/Dave O’Brien & Cory Alexander). Louisville is a 3.5-point favorite.
The key for UVA in tonight’s game is to hit a high percentage of shots in order to set up its fullcourt pressure and slow down the pace of Louisville, one of the fastest tempo teams in the country.
“I think we’ve played similarly,” Odom said of UVA and Louisville. “I think they’re faster than us in transition. They get it up quicker. They put it on you really fast. They’re the fastest in the country, really in terms of getting to the 3 right away. They can beat you right there. If you’re not on it right away, it can be a long night. One of the keys is getting quality shots on the offensive end so that we can get into our press and begin to try to show that as best we can.”
Virginia’s top 3-point shooter, Jacari White, who has been out since Dec. 20 with a broken left hand, is day-to-day.
The Cavaliers have won 18 of the last 21 matchups against Louisville, although the Cardinals swept the series last season. UVA is 19-4 vs. Louisville since the Cardinals joined the ACC and is 11-5 in games played in Louisville.
Virginia is No. 1 in the ACC in offensive rebounding (14.1), No. 1 in field-goal percentage defense (.380) and No. 1 in 3-point percentage defense (.288). The Wahoos are No. 2 in the league in blocked shots (6.50 per game).
Louisville is No. 2 in the ACC in scoring, 88.2 compared to UVA’s No. 6 at 85.0.
