By Jerry Ratcliffe
Sometimes it’s the 3-point shooting. Sometimes it’s the rebounding. Sometimes it’s the smothering defense. Sometimes it’s the depth and experience.
Fifteenth-ranked Virginia has so many options that can jump up and bite opponents, which has sparked Ryan Odom’s team to a 22-3 record, including a 10-2 mark away from home.
In Saturday night’s 70-66 win over Ohio State in what was staged by Fox TV as the “Nashville Showdown,” it was definitely defense, rebounding and experience.
Virginia trailed the upset-minded Buckeyes, who were desperately seeking a Quad 1 win, by a 59-53 count with 10:03 remaining. The Cavaliers had trailed almost the entire second half.
However, with 10 minutes to go, UVA slammed the door shut on their Big Ten foes.
Ohio State scored only 7 points in the final 10 minutes of the game, and 5 of those came in the final minute. Meanwhile, Virginia went on a 13-2 run, unleashing its guards to attack the basket and taking a 66-61 lead with 40 seconds to go, wrapping up the win at the free-throw line, converting 5 of 8 foul shots to ice the victory in front of 6,438 fans at the Bridgestone Arena, the Music City’s hockey venue.
The defensive adjustments Odom made over those final 10 minutes concerned shutting down Buckeyes point guard Bruce Thornton, the fifth-leading scorer in Ohio State history. Thornton had single-handedly kept State in the game, finishing with a game-high 28 points.
Virginia essentially double-teamed Thornton down the 10-minute home stretch.
“Yeah, we had to because he was going off,” Odom said. “They were putting him in some good spots and he was going to try to take it home. So we had to put two on the ball and take a chance, not something we do all the time, but we certainly have it in our package.”
Odom said that Virginia practiced that leading into the game just in case.
“We made some adjustments defensively in the ball screen and I think that frazzled [Ohio State] a little bit,” said UVA point guard Dallin Hall.
“Our goal was to just continue to make shots hard for [Thornton], forcing him to take tough twos, even though he made a lot of them,” said guard Malik Thomas. “Crowd him, give him different looks, whether that’s bringing two on the ball or one-on-one or help, and being in the gaps and just bothering him. I think we did a great job, even though he ended up with 28 points. It was a hard 28 points.”
Thornton missed six of his last seven shots over the final 10-minute stretch.
It wasn’t just defense. Virginia, one of the elite rebounding teams in the nation (Cavaliers are No. 8 in the country in rebounds per game 41.64/ No. 10 in offensive rebounds 14.12), killed the Buckeyes on the glass (40-26). After falling behind by 11 points in the early stages of the game, UVA crashed the boards and it made a huge difference in coming back to knot the game at 37-37 by the break.
From the 10:53 mark of the first half until 2:58 to go, Ohio State had zero rebounds. Nada, nyet, and the score went from 19-17 Buckeyes to 36-31 Wahoos. UVA ripped down nine straight rebounds during that stretch.
It was only a few days ago that Florida State coach Luke Loucks pointed out that the difference in Virginia pulling out that road win was the Cavaliers’ dominance on the boards, particularly the offensive boards.
As we wrote in advance of UVA’s visit to Nashville, the Cavaliers’ experience has been a major advantage in close games, especially when they’ve had to fight their way back in road games.
Hall said after beating the Buckeyes: “We have a lot of experienced guys coming from different places, but to just be in those situations together and be able to gut it out … I think it’s super valuable for us.”
Lots of ways to get you. Pick your poison.
