Earlier in the season, after a campaign-opening win over Rider, Virginia Coach Ryan Odom fielded a question about halftime defensive adjustments and the team’s plans to minimize opponents’ offense. After speaking about his team’s pressure and rotation patterns, he gave a nod to the fans.
“We have to get teams deeper into the clock,” Odom said. “Trust me, the fans, they will know what to do at the end. Now, we have to get them used to some of the other stuff on the other side, and that’ll be a learning curve for them.”
The fans sure knew what to do in John Paul Jones Arena Saturday afternoon, as the Cavaliers (14-2, 3-1 ACC) forced six shot clock violations from Stanford, holding the visiting Cardinal (13-4, 2-2 ACC) to only six made shots in the second half and winning the game 70-55.
Stanford came to Charlottesville fresh off a 69-68 win over Virginia Tech, where star freshman guard Ebuka Okorie scored 11 of the team’s final 14 points to seal the victory. Okorie had a strong start against Virginia, leading the first half in scoring, but was held to zero points in the second half, which Odom attributed to team defense and coverage in pick and roll situations.
“We talked all week about guarding him with five guys and not one,” Odom said. “Trying to keep him off balance in pick and roll coverages — certainly he demands a double team at times. Sometimes getting him inside we had to test it with our bigs to see if he could get in there and finish over them some or how that would play out.”
Not unlike the Cavaliers’ last outing against California, an early rebounding margin allowed for some cushion heading into halftime. Virginia led Stanford 41-34 at the half, in part off of eight offensive rebounds that led to 11 points. Okorie and senior guard Benny Gealer combined for 27 of the Cardinal’s first-half points, while freshman forward De Ridder scored 12 and freshman guard Chance Mallory scored 10.
Then, like in the Cavaliers’ Wednesday match against the Golden Bears (13-3, 1-3 ACC), fans at JPJ were treated to suffocating defense to start the second half. Stanford made only one of their first 17 shot attempts in the second, and were held scoreless for nearly five minutes as the Virginia lead grew from eight to 22.
A large part of that defensive performance at half was limiting Cardinal transition opportunities. Stanford scored 11 fast break points in the first half, but none in the second. Odom acknowledged how a good portion of the defensive run to start the second half was caused by cleaner offense that did not allow the Cardinal to break away in transition.
“I thought our guys did a nice job of taking care of the ball,” Odom said. “And I think when we do that, we could set our defense, we’re going to get good shots and live to fight another day."
As Okorie and Gealer both struggled to score in the second half, De Ridder finished the game as the matchup’s lead shotmaker, going 8-11 from the field and 5-5 from the line for a total of 22 points. Cardinal coach Kyle Smith pointed out just how just how comfortable and strong De Ridder was, as well as how efficient he was as a scorer.
“He’s one of those guys [where] I thought we did a pretty good job on him and he has 22,” Smith said. “I thought it was a really quiet, efficient 22, and those are the guys that are really hard to scout. He’s not trying to do anything he can’t do … You’ve got to fight him, he's a bear, he’s going to keep driving, finding contact, spinning off of you and he’s really aggressive.”
De Ridder’s scoring was supplemented by 13 points from Mallory, 11 from graduate guard Malik Thomas and six assists from graduate guard Dallin Hall. Thomas, a particularly strong and physical guard, led the game in rebounds with seven, while senior center Ugonna Onyenso had six rebounds and five blocks.
To add to the efficacy of Virginia’s pressure and defensive performance throughout the match, the Cavaliers held Stanford to only 17 free throw attempts — the lowest by a high-major opponent all season. Odom, who has reiterated throughout the season the importance of improving the team’s defensive discipline, said that a lot of the team’s tidier defensive performance came from understanding the Cardinal’s offense and what each player likes to do.
“The message is getting there,” Odom said. “Discipline. You know I think a lot of it comes down to the personnel that you’re playing against and what they like to do. Are they a team that likes to fake or a guy that likes to really fake a lot? They can cause problems for you if you’re undisciplined and you leave your feet. And I think our guys are getting a little bit better at understanding how to play the personnel.”
Next, the Cavaliers will travel to Kentucky to face No. 20 Louisville in the KFC Yum! Center Tuesday. The Cardinals (12-4, 2-2 ACC) are one of the best offensive teams in the country, scoring in drives with six players averaging double-digit scoring. With a backcourt that includes a former Virginia star in senior guard Isaac McKneely and a high-powered offense led by senior guard Ryan Conwell and junior big Sananda Fru, the Cardinals will be one of the tougher matchups of the regular season for Odom and the Cavaliers. The match will be streamed on ESPN 2.
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