By Jerry Ratcliffe
A slow start at Notre Dame and a slow start to the second half against North Carolina over Virginia’s last two outings made life difficult for the 17th-ranked Cavaliers.
Ryan Odom is hoping his team learned some lessons over that short span, lessons that might help UVA avoid some issues when it travels to Boston College for a 1:30 p.m. ACC game on Saturday (TV: the CW network).
The host Eagles (9-11, 2-5) are 13.5-point underdogs to the Cavaliers (17-3, 6-2). Even though Virginia has won 15 of the last 18 contests against BC, the Cavaliers are a mere 6-6 at Conte Forum, which is usually partially-filled in a less than intimidating atmosphere.
In fact, in the times this writer has covered games at Conte, the crowd is often dominated by UVA Club of Boston members.
UVA, which has a three-game winning streak against the Eagles, has likely been focusing on itself since pulling a Houdini in South Bend on Tuesday night, which required the Cavaliers’ biggest comeback (19 points) since 2006. On the strength of Thijs De Ridder’s career-high 32 points and some clutch shooting by Sam Lewis (21 points), Virginia survived 100-97 in double overtime.
Ryan’s team fell behind by 19 points in the first half and after sleep-walking through the first 20 minutes, made an impressive comeback. A week ago, it was Virginia that built a large, first-half lead (16 points) against visiting North Carolina, then came apart at the seams in the second half, dropping an 85-80 decision to the Tar Heels.
Odom’s job is to uncover what has caused these lapses before facing the Eagles. Boston College hasn’t played in a week, dropping a close decision at Notre Dame last Saturday, after blowing a double-figures, first-half lead.
BC is led by Fred Payne (15.1 ppg, 41.5 fg pct, 35.9 3pt fg pct, 60 assists) and Donald Hand Jr., son of former UVA standout guard Donald Hand (1998-2001). Hand is averaging 14.2 ppg this season, but is capable of lighting up the scoreboard, even though his shooting percentages don’t jump off the page (32.0 fg pct, 22.3 3-pt fg pct). He scored 17 against Notre Dame in his last outing. Hand, however, has shown a strength at drawing fouls. He has made 90 of 126 free-throw attempts, 71.4 pct.
Virginia needs to bounce back strong and avoid sweating out another road win. The Cavaliers have built a solid NCAA resume thus far. They’re tied for third in the ACC standings (BC is 13th) and the Cavaliers are ranked No. 16 nationally by the NET and kenpom.com.
UVA is averaging 84.6 points per game, third-highest in program history, and has myriad of players that can score.
Virginia is first in the ACC in rebounds (42 per game) and first in offensive rebounds per game (14.3), and is second in the conference in field-goal percentage defense (.392), second in 3-point shooting percentage (.366), second in rebound margin (+9.2) and in blocked shots (6.1 per game).
Odom’s 17 wins are presently the second-most by a first-year Virginia coach, trailing only Jeff Jones, who posted 21 wins his first year in 1990-91.
Saturday’s ACC Scoreboard
Virginia at Boston College, 1:30 p.m. (The CW)
Duke at Virginia Tech, Noon (ESPN)
Pitt at Clemson, Noon (ACC Network)
North Carolina at Georgia Tech, 2 p.m. (ACC Network)
SMU at Louisville, 2 p.m. (ESPN)
NC State at Wake Forest. 3:45 p.m. (The CW)
California at Miami, 4 p.m. (ACC Network)
Stanford at Florida State, 6 p.m. (ACC Network)
Notre Dame at Syracuse, 6 p.m. (The CW)
