Coach Ryan Odom and his team knew that Maryland presented a greater challenge than the Terrapins’ (6-6, 0-2 Big Ten) record suggested. Even with star senior forward Pharrel Payne sidelined due to injury, Maryland played No. 2 Michigan competitively a week prior. As the former head coach at Virginia Tech, Coach Buzz Williams was no stranger to John Paul Jones Arena.
Unsurprisingly, then, Saturday’s clash at JPJ was a tight one for much of its runtime. No. 23 Virginia men’s basketball renewed a historic rivalry with an 80-72 win, its 77th in 184 historic matchups. It was far from perfect, but the Cavaliers (10-1, 0-0 ACC) ultimately overcame early shooting woes and a deluge of fouls.
“You’re not going to play perfectly,” Odom said. “This is not a game of perfect.”
It certainly was not. Although Virginia led most of the way, the Cavaliers’ level of control ebbed and flowed. Early on, there was no control to speak of. Virginia suffered at the hands of Maryland’s physical brand of play, notching fouls at an outrageous rate. Williams’ Terrapins forced the Cavaliers to contest everything, baiting out shooting fouls and knocking down free throws at a time when points were difficult to come by on both sides.
Virginia’s defense kept Maryland at bay, though, forcing 19 total turnovers and preventing the Terrapins from taking complete control. Odom described the defense as a crucial stopgap while the offense tried to regain its footing.
“I thought our guys, relatively speaking, did a nice job to dig it out,” Odom said. “I’m proud of the way that our defense held up when our offense was really struggling mightily in that first half.”
Virginia trailed by eight with five minutes remaining in the first half. Already 10 fouls deep and losing the rebounding battle, the Cavaliers desperately needed some offensive momentum to lift the burden off of the defense.
It came in large part thanks to freshman guard Chance Mallory. Mallory’s stat sheet was uncharacteristically empty, but his steals and assists propelled Virginia back into the game before halftime — two steals and two assists in rapid succession put the Cavaliers up by one. Another basket and an emphatic dunk by freshman forward Johann Grunloh capped off a 13-0 run, giving Virginia a five-point lead entering halftime.
The second half saw both sides rediscover their shooting rhythms. Graduate guard David Coit, Maryland’s second leading scorer, scored all 15 of his points in the second half. For Virginia, the shots had to start falling sooner rather than later.
Fall they did, as graduate guards Dallin Hall and Jacari White took over the scoring duties after halftime. Hall recorded 18 of his 20 points in the second half, making all of his shot attempts and finding space to operate under the rim.
After struggling from three in the first half, White refocused his efforts beyond the arc and reaped the rewards, knocking down three threes. He reprised his role as the sparkplug, at one point bringing JPJ to its feet with an electrifying dunk over senior forward Solomon Washington. Graduate forward Devin Tillis sung White’s praises after the fact, pointing to the importance of momentum.
“You saw how we jumped on him after that dunk,” Tillis said. “It has a huge effect when you have players that can make plays like that… it gets the crowd into it, and then it helps us get our momentum going.”
The high-energy plays may have belonged to White, but it was Hall who steadied the ship. The BYU transfer put together a season-high 20-point showing, lighting up the box score more than he typically has through non-conference play.
“We call him Captain America,” Tillis said. “He’s ultimately our leader, and when he’s scoring [20 points] it just fuels the fire even more.”
Virginia gets one more chance to tune up before conference play begins. The Cavaliers will host American at JPJ Dec. 22 as a New Year’s Eve date with Virginia Tech at Blacksburg looms just over the horizon.
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