Coach Ryan Odom has been in Charlotte, N.C.’s Spectrum Center before — most notably as the author of UMBC’s infamous March basketball upset over Virginia back in 2018.
After Saturday’s 86-73 win over Dayton in that same NBA arena, Odom said that the atmosphere and game reminded him of NCAA tournament basketball. The Flyers (7-3, 0-0 Atlantic 10) are a high-major team in all but name, and playing an opponent of that caliber in a venue like this is the kind of basketball usually reserved for spring.
“This is an NCAA type tournament game, and you schedule these games for that reason,” Odom said. “Coach Grant has done a great job of getting their program into the NCAA tournament on multiple occasions … They are a high major program that expects to win every game. And so for us to play against an opponent like that and have that type of pressure put on us will pay dividends for us in the long run.”
Despite struggling against Dayton’s suffocating ball pressure, the Cavaliers (8-1, 0-0 ACC) managed to snag a tournament-level win. In games like these, sometimes a team needs a player to get a hot hand and say, in their own way, “I’m not missing today.”
Today, that was graduate guard Jacari White.
White erupted for 25 points largely via 7-for-7 from the three point range. With his four consecutive three-point makes to close out the Texas game Thursday, along with his scoring frenzy Saturday, he tied Kyle Guy’s school record for 11 consecutive three-pointers in 2018-19.
“[Jacari’s] was just one of those performances where, every time he was open and he had it, you could hear the crowd going, ‘yes!,’” Odom said. “He hadn't made the shot yet. It was just, you knew that he was going to probably knock it in.”
Fresh off an 88–69 dismantling of Texas on the road Wednesday, the victory gave Virginia fans an early celebration before the gridiron Cavaliers kick off in the ACC Championship game across town at Bank of America Stadium.
The final score belied a shaky start. Virginia initially seemed rattled by Dayton’s pace and pressure, with the lead see-sawing between the two teams for much of the first half. The Flyers’ defense forced the Cavaliers out of rhythm, creating a tempo that at times favored the A10 challengers.
“It was weird for us,” freshman center Johann Grünloh said. “We haven't seen this kind of pressure before, and them playing zone and attacking zone … we made some mistakes, but you can only learn from these mistakes.”
The second half, however, was night and day to the first. Instead of consecutive minutes sharing the same number on the scoreboard, Virginia pulled away within the first five minutes thanks to a shot diet characterised by a barrage of threes.
The tight but vocal crowd, led by the Jacarmy, rose to its feet after any White three, followed by a layup, grew the lead to 16, punctuating an 18-3 run over four and a half minutes of play. At the 13:25 mark of the second half, Virginia led 57-41, missing only two shots through the first seven minutes of the period.
“You know, I always see [the Jacarmy] every time I check in,” White said. “You know, they take the [sweat]shirts off, show the shirts. So I love them, love the support.”
Coming out of a media timeout, White hit his third three of the half — and fourth of the game — growing the lead to 19. With an added layup, White accounted for 13 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half, more than the entire Dayton squad in that period and more than any individual player through the first 30 minutes of play.
“[Jacari is] really elite at finding windows, getting to the open spot,” graduate guard Dallin Hall said. “And I mean, I don't feel bad for the other team, because we had to guard that all summer against each other, so we know what he's capable of, and he made a lot of big time plays out there today. So I'm happy for him. He deserves it, and we've been knowing he can shoot it like that.”
White’s lights-out shotmaking was complimented by efficient scoring from Hall and the usual steady play from junior guard Sam Lewis. Hall opened the half with five points, coming from a three and two free throws, while Lewis logged three assists, a rebound and two points from an early layup. Graduate forward Devin Tillis added to that run with a three of his own, and hit another not long after — pulling the lead back to 19.
As Virginia grew its lead, the Flyers continued to force turnovers and find some scoring success in the paint. With five minutes to go, the Flyers began to close the gap with a three from 5-foot-11 senior guard Javon Bennett followed by a dunk in transition from senior guard Jordan Derkack — the Cavaliers found themselves only leading by seven points.
But the Flyers mistakenly allowed White to stand open behind the arc, where he launched his seventh straight three of seven total attempts, matching his career high against Butler with North Dakota State this past February.
The crowd roared as the Cavaliers returned to a double-digit lead with only two minutes remaining — punctuated with a two-pointer in the paint by Grünloh for 79-67, Virginia. The two teams exchanged baskets and free throws through the last 120 seconds, but the Cavaliers held on to the lead, going 7-9 from the line to keep the game in hand.
Next, Virginia will have a trio of home games before Christmas. Up next is UMES — one of the worst teams in Division I per KenPom — will come to Charlottesville Tuesday. The Hawks (4-8, 0-0 MEAC) opened their season with a four-point loss to Georgia Tech and a 65-point loss to Georgia — they will enter the game 1-6 on the road, while the Cavaliers remain undefeated at home.
Though leaving with the win over a Dayton squad that only lost to No. 9 BYU by four, a season-high 21 turnovers raised some alarms for Virginia. Much like the Cavaliers, Dayton plays with full-court pressure, which Odom said stressed his side.
“Their pressure, obviously, is very, very good. They do it to most teams, and they did it to us tonight,” Odom said. “We had just enough positive plays on offense … to be able to withstand a poor turnover performance that so far this season we haven't really had … certainly something that that we're going to we're going to continue to work on going forward.”
Fortunately for Odom, the shooting efficiency masked the ball-handling errors. Aside from White’s explosion, freshman guard Chance Mallory was the only other Cavalier to reach double figures with 12 — but the bench production proved insurmountable for Dayton.
“There's a lot of guys on this team that are good enough to start,” Hall said. “We have some depth, and that's what makes us really good. There's no lull in the second wave that comes in.”
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