Hot-Shooting Cavaliers Defeat Dayton in Charlotte

By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Officially, Spectrum Center was deemed a neutral site for the men’s basketball game between Virginia and Dayton. The reality Saturday afternoon was much different, as Dayton can  attest.

In front of a crowd dominated by UVA fans, many of whom planned on being at Bank of America Stadium that night for the ACC football title game, the Flyers might have thought they were playing at John Paul Jones Arena.

That support proved crucial as Virginia withstood a late rally by Dayton to secure an 86-73 victory in front of a boisterous crowd of 4,175. With their second straight win away from JPJ—the first was Wednesday night in Austin, Texas—the Wahoos improved to 8-1.

“Our fans that came to the game were very impactful,” UVA head coach Ryan Odom said. “Our guys felt it, and we really appreciate all those that made the trip here to Charlotte to see us play and, obviously, the football team tonight. It matters.”

Chants of “Let’s go, Wahoos! Let’s go, Wahoos!” drowned out the PA system periodically Saturday, and UVA supporters had much to cheer, starting with the record-setting marksmanship of Jacari White. A graduate transfer from North Dakota State whose student-led fan club, which was in attendance, calls itself “the Jacarmy,” White was 7 for 7 from 3-point range and 9 for 9 overall and finished with a season-high 25 points.

“I love them, love the support,” White said of his cheering section. “I like connecting with people, getting out on the campus, meeting people. So for them to embrace me and welcome me, it just makes it all better.”

A 6-foot-3 wing, White set a program record for most made 3-pointers in a game without a miss, and he’s hit 12  straight treys overall, in a three-game span, to break the UVA mark held by Kyle Guy.

“It 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, smiling. “It wasn’t that he had made the shot yet. It was just you knew that he was going to probably knock it in. And he’s in amazing company right now with Kyle Guy.”

White said he was aware that fans “had their hands up before the ball even touched my hands. It was fun just to have everybody behind me.”

His final 3-pointer capped a pivotal sequence. After Virginia built a 21-point lead, Dayton (7-3) answered with a 14-0 run. With about three minutes left and the score 74-67, UVA forward Thijs De Ridder missed a 3-point attempt, but teammate Chance Mallory, a 5-foot-10 freshman, soared for the rebound and then passed the ball to guard Dallin Hall, who fed White for a trey made it a 10-point game.

The Flyers never got closer than eight points the rest of the way.

“It was huge,” Odom said of Mallory’s offensive rebound, “and you could see it. He had position there. I had a pretty good view at it, and he just skied up and got it and that’s what he does. He’s a warrior, and he finds a way to impact the game whether he’s playing lights out or he’s had a subpar game. He finds a way to win, and that’s why we’re excited that he’s on our team.”

Dayton is in its ninth season under Anthony Grant, who like Odom is a former VCU head coach. Grant’s teams are known for their relentless full-court pressure, and the Cavaliers looked rattled at times Saturday. Virginia finished with 21 turnovers, its most in a game since 2008-09.

Grant is “an amazing coach and just a great representative of our game,” Odom said. “And so it’s always a pleasure to compete against him and his players and staff. Their pressure obviously is very, very good. They do it to most teams and they did it to us tonight.”

The Hoos, who outrebounded the Flyers 41-25, shot 60 percent from the floor.

White had a lot to do with that, of course, but his teammates were 18 for 36. Eight players scored at least seven points apiece for Virginia, which assisted on 21 of its 27 field goals.

“We had just enough positive plays on offense and ball movement on offense to be able to withstand a poor turnover performance that so far this season we haven’t really had,” Odom said, “and I think you have to give Dayton a ton of credit for that. And certainly it’s something that we’re gonna continue to work on going forward and need to work on. But I’m proud of the guys, proud of the way that they played. They showed some resiliency …We knew it was going to be a challenge, and it certainly played out that way.”

UVA’s reserves contributed 53 points, the most by the Cavalier bench since Nov. 22, 2016.

“I think there’s a lot of guys on this team that are good enough to start,” Hall said, “but we have some depth, and that’s what makes us really good. There’s no lull when the second wave comes in. A lot of times they give us a boost. And in this day and age, I think you’ve got to have a lot of depth to compete at the highest level. We just play for each other. We feel like we’re a family and so we have a lot of fun playing the game together.”

The victory capped a successful road trip for the Cavaliers, who left Charlottesville on Tuesday. Their first stop was Austin, where they routed Texas 88-69 in an ACC/SEC Challenge game late Wednesday night at the Moody Center.

The Hoos flew to Charlotte on Thursday and began prepping for the Dayton game. With another game coming up Tuesday night at JPJ, Odom and Co. couldn’t stick around Charlotte for the ACC football title game Saturday night. But Odom opened his press conference by saluting Virginia football coach Tony Elliott and his team.

“Just really pleased to be here in Charlotte on this day and excited for what’s to come tonight for Coach Elliott and the football team,” Odom said. “They’ve worked really hard to put themselves in this position and obviously we’re all hopeful for a big win tonight, so we want to wish them luck from the basketball team.”

UP NEXT: The Cavaliers’ final game before final exams begin at the University is Tuesday night. At 7 o’clock, UVA hosts University of Maryland Eastern Shore (4-8) at John Paul Jones Arena. The game will air on the ACC Network Extra.

Virginia is 3-0 all-time against UMES. In the teams’ most recent meeting, the Cavaliers won 72-45 at JPJ on Nov. 25, 2022.

UMES lost to American in Washington, D.C., on Saturday afternoon.

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