Now-empty spots demand to be filled by capable transfers who can fulfill, or exceed, the role vacated by the previous Cavaliers.
The key for the Cavaliers, against a team that will force tough shots and likely have more possessions on the game, will be to find an early rhythm on offense and fight for defensive rebounds.
“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.”
“I feel like coming into conference play I got my groove back,” Lewis said in an interview before the ACC Tournament.
Nerve-racking as they may be for the Virginia faithful, such tight contests equipped Odom with a much-needed toolkit for tournament basketball.
“Blocking shots is what I do,” Onyenso said. “And I'm really good at it.”
The 14-seed Raiders (23-11, 15-5 Horizon), coming off a Horizon League title win over Detroit Mercy, will face Virginia having won seven of their last eight games. Led by second-year Coach Clint Sergent, they are a team that thrives at getting to the rim — attempting 43.1 percent of their shots there and making over 60 percent of them.
“Duke made the plays that they needed to make down the stretch to finish it out,” Odom said. “I thought we had a good opportunity there when it was tied, but it just didn't go our way today.”
Two weeks. Two weeks since the biggest loss of Coach Ryan Odom’s tenure in Charlottesville, and the Cavaliers (29-4, 15-3 ACC) will again meet the Blue Devils (31-2, 17-1 ACC), this time at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C. at 8:30 p.m.
“It's important to respond when they have their runs because they're a good team that is capable of having their runs,” Thomas said. “So answering back was huge.”
“They're really tough to deal with,” Odom said in February. “And they're even better in person than when you watch them on film.”
“We got the lead to six a couple times in the first half, and then we wasted some possessions,” Wade said. “We took a bunch of mid range jump shots, a bunch of fadeaways. We got bottled up, which is what their defense does. That really bothered us and stunted us from being able [to] stretch the lead.”
Virginia is just 3-15 all-time against the Wolfpack in the ACC Tournament, including a 3-9 mark in quarterfinal matchups and a 1-3 record in Charlotte — the Cavaliers are also just 3-22 against NC State at neutral sites.
“I can definitely say that I think I left the jersey in a better place. I think we did as a team,” Tillis said.
“Whenever Dallin talks, we listen to him,” senior center Ugonna Onyenso said. “He brings a different kind of energy to the game.”
