For No. 21 Virginia, conference play started on New Year’s Eve with a game destined to take Coach Ryan Odom and his team out of their comfort zones.
“There are a lot of good records out there right now,” Odom said. “We’ve got a big challenge ahead of us, and the first one’s at Virginia Tech.”
“At the end of the Maryland game we made it clear to our guys that we were not excited about the way that we finished that game,” Odom said. “And tonight certainly we were much better.”
“You’re not going to play perfectly,” Odom said. “This is not a game of perfect.”
“For me, [Virginia] was the best basketball environment I've been in in my life,” Salt said. “A lot of lessons I learned [were] at Virginia.”
Now 10 games into the season, the team is beginning to find its footing as one of the best offensive teams in the country.
“[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.
The Cavaliers (7-1, 0-0 ACC) broke a stalemate just five minutes into the game, leading by double digits for the final half hour of play.
Odom doesn’t have to choose between Hall’s steady hand and the spark plug that is Mallory — he can, and should, have both.
Virginia left the game with positive results on two major percentage points.
“We kind of dug ourselves a hole, and we had to fight back," Thomas said.
“I think it was just a great college basketball game all around," Odom said. "Had a lot of drama, players making big-time plays throughout. It was a really physical game.”
The Cavaliers’ full-court pressure should be tested this weekend against two disciplined offenses with top-tier athleticism.
"I'm a fan of young men receiving some compensation. But I think it's so unmonitored and not regulated. And I think until it becomes more regulated, a level playing field, and there's more control, [there will be issues]."
“I was so happy to see the ball go in,” Onyenso said. “I’ve waited so long for this.”
“We let Virginia's pressure bother us,” Marshall Coach Cornelius Jackson said. “They're physical."
“I’m telling you, that’s a good team,” Hampton Coach Ivan Thomas said.
“We salute you."
“It was one thing to see [Virginia] on tape, but another thing to kind of experience that in person,” Eagles Coach Levelle Moton said.
The tortoise has become the hare. Fast basketball? Some conqueror rewrote the source code.
