No. 1 Duke dismantled the Cavaliers winning aspirations with clinical efficiency, rolling to a victory that never once saw Virginia hold a lead. On a day that could have solidified the Cavaliers’ newfound identity, Cameron Indoor Arena and the Blue Devils found a way to ensure that Virginia did everything but.
“Naturally, you're going to take punches,” Odom said. “This is a competitive sport and we punch people [and] they punch us. They punched us a lot more than we punched them today. And that's what it is. And so you’ve got to cover yourself, you’ve got to make sure you're not getting hit as much, and you move on to the next thing.”
“We're just going to do what we always do, and that's get ready for the next one,” Odom said after the NC State win.
The gesture highlighted not only Bennett’s profound impact on Virginia, but also the influence he continues to have on Odom, the current team and the roster as they strive to push the program back to where Bennett once had it.
“This is a really really good team, and they steamrolled us,” Wade said. “They’re better than we are. If we played them 10 times I’m not sure we could beat them. Maybe once if we get lucky on a neutral court. But, I mean, they’re just flat out better than us.”
That tale of two Georgia Tech results, separated by five weeks, offer a verdict on where these two programs stand heading into Tuesday night's rematch at John Paul Jones Arena.
On a day already steeped in consequence, with a pre-tip-off ceremony dedicating the JPJ hardwood to legendary coach Tony Bennett, a series of clutch baskets, free throws and defensive stands iced a tight 86-83 victory over the surging Hurricanes.
“The goal is to play 40 minutes,” Odom said. “And regardless of how you start, you always want to start well. And I thought our guys did a nice job of putting the pressure on pretty quickly. And it helps when you make shots.”
Continuing a trend of narrow wins secured by defensive stands towards the end of the second half, Virginia held the Buckeyes to only two points between the 10 minute mark of the second half and the final 60 seconds, stifling the paint-focused offense late as they built a small lead late in the game.
As Virginia prepares for the final stretch of ACC play — featuring more challenging opponents than recent weeks, ranging from No. 4 Duke to rematches with NC State and Virginia Tech — Saturday’s game serves as an opportunity to recalibrate against a quality opponent.
Coming off of a recent stretch of wins in which Virginia seemingly played down to competition against bottom-of-conference opponents, it has been an up-and-down start to conference play, with just as many questions raised as answered.
Fortunately for Virginia, White, a 43 percent three-point shooter on the season, stepped it up for the Cavaliers. White hit four threes on the way to a team leading 16 second half points.
“They had a good plan coming in and kept us off balance offensively with the switching of the presses and then the zone a little bit,” Odom said. “I thought they did a nice job overall. And every time we would stretch it a little bit, they were coming right back, and it was a tight game, obviously, and could have gone either direction.”
“Turned it over a little bit too much in the first half,” Odom said. “I thought our guys did a better job in the second taking care of the ball. Clearly, offensively, we weren't clicking on all cylinders but the defense was a key aspect of the game for us tonight.”
“I’m really proud of the guys,” Coach Ryan Odom said. “Gritty effort overall. To come away this week with two wins on the road is really difficult and I’m proud of the execution down the stretch.”
“So many great plays out there, it’s hard to recount all of them on both sides,” Odom said. “It made for a great college basketball game. It’s one of those that you hate [that] anyone ends up losing.”
“Key to the game for us, certainly, was every time that we missed a shot…our transition defense was not where it needed to be throughout the entire night,” Odom said. “The defensive intensity was not where we needed it to be. The communication was lacking, and a poor defensive performance overall.”
“This is just the next game on our schedule, and there certainly will be a lot of eyes on this one,” Odom said. “This group has been really good at focusing on the task at hand and what’s right in front of them.”
“Every win on the road is like gold,” Odom said. “This particular group understands that. If you want to compete at the highest level of the ACC and compete for a championship, you have to win games on the road. The eventual champion will do that.”
The good news is that Grünloh came to Charlottesville with experience playing against bigger, more experienced frontcourts — now, he is in a role in which he can excel by doing the little, simple things right.
