With 5:32 remaining in Friday’s Round of 64 opener in Philadelphia, Pa., Virginia was not playing like a three-seed.
The team trailed 68-67 when sophomore guard TJ Burch fouled junior wing Sam Lewis in transition. Lewis tapped Burch with the ball — the sophomore threw his hands up, and the referees did not miss it, slamming Lewis with a technical foul.
The teams exchanged pairs of free throws to negate the penalties, but the frustration was evident on the Cavalier side.
“I think Sam was disappointed that he did it,” Coach Ryan Odom said postgame. “They were pressuring us and they were on a run at that point. So not the reaction that he should have had or that any of us wanted.”
Miscues defined Virginia’s (30-5, 15-3 ACC) performance in its first game of the NCAA Tournament, but they were not enough to sink the Cavaliers’ hopes — an 11-0 run followed the Raider free throws, sealing an 82-73 win.
Perhaps the game exorcised the demons of March Madness exits past — the win was Virginia’s first since 2019, when the Cavaliers won the National Championship. Now, this Cavalier team, led by a new head coach with a fresh philosophy and playstyle, approaches unfamiliar territory in the Round of 32.
That lack of experience was evident through the majority of Friday’s game. The Virginia offense looked disjointed and uncomfortable, committing 14 turnovers and allowing 14-seed Wright State (23-12, 15-5 Horizon) to take a bevy of open looks from beyond the arc. As the Cavaliers settled in, the jitters quieted, and Virginia improved on both sides of the ball.
“Having so many guys, it being their first time, I think next game that’ll allow them to just really be present from the start,” graduate guard Dallin Hall said. “They made us uncomfortable on both ends of the floor, but we’re going to learn from it.”
The Raiders are an interior-focused team, but they relied on the three-ball to give them a chance — overall, the approach was highly effective. Graduate forward Michael Imariagbe and sophomore guard Solomon Callaghan led the charge from deep, knocking down five and four three-pointers, respectively. They came in big moments, preventing Virginia from maintaining slim leads.
The Cavaliers responded with a three-point barrage of their own. Graduate guard Jacari White showed up in the most critical of games, posting a new season-high with 26 points on 6-8 from three. His prowess beyond the arc gave Virginia reliable responses to Imariagbe and Callaghan, but White also thrived on the interior, frequently driving off of screens and finding his way to the rim.
“It feels good knowing that I can have a performance like that and help us win a game,” White said. “It's a lot of our first time being here, and I know, for it being my last year, I didn't want for it to end so early.”
White’s showing was absolutely necessary for a Virginia offense that lacked a consistent scorer. Graduate guard Malik Thomas and Lewis posted 11 and 12 points respectively, and recorded three turnovers apiece — besides White, they were as much offense as the Cavaliers could muster.
Virginia’s defense ultimately provided the most separation between the two squads. Wright State took care of the ball, recording just seven turnovers, but the Raiders were also inefficient from the interior. For a team that focuses its game on the inside, the two-headed beast of senior center Ugonna Onyenso and freshman center Johann Grünloh was too much to overcome.
“We knew we had to free guys up to shoot rhythm threes,” Wright State Coach Clint Sargent said postgame. “Really I thought the game kind of came down to the glass and those extra possessions. That, obviously with their size and rim protection, that's a lot to handle for us.”
Grünloh, wrist still wrapped from an injury sustained in the ACC Tournament, put together a strong defensive showing in 19 minutes of play. He notched three blocks and seven rebounds, working alongside Onyenso’s two blocks and three boards to establish Virginia’s dominance in the paint. The Raiders were forced to put their faith in the three-point shot as a result.
The faith was well-placed, but Wright State’s effort fell flat in the final minutes. In a dogfight defined by exchanges of three-pointers, turnovers and blocks, the Cavaliers’ 11-0 run was the nail in the coffin for the 14-seed. For Virginia, it provided much-needed catharsis after a tense start to its NCAA Tournament run.
“I think when you get to this level, you get to this tournament, all these teams belong here,” Odom said. “Certainly, there were tense moments back and forth, but really proud of the way the guys stood up on the defensive end.”
The Cavaliers have earned the right to play at least one more game. Virginia’s next bout comes Sunday versus six-seed Tennessee, a physical, controlling SEC squad that manhandled 11-seed Miami (Ohio) in the Round of 64. The Cavaliers will need similar dominance on the boards and success from the three-point line to emerge victorious and book their ticket to Chicago for the Sweet 16.
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