By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Virginia’s margin of victory Tuesday night didn’t tell the whole story Tuesday night (Feb. 3) at John Paul Jones Arena. The 18th-ranked Wahoos led by 14 points with two minutes to play, and not until the final 35 seconds did they stretch their lead to 20.
Still, once the Hoos took the lead in the first half, they were never seriously threatened in their 67-47 win over ACC rival Pittsburgh.
The 67 points are the fewest the Cavaliers (19-3 overall, 8-2 ACC) have scored this season. The 47 are the fewest they’ve allowed. Virginia outrebounded the Panthers 38-31, forced 17 turnovers, blocked six shots, made 12 steals and committed only 11 fouls.
“Clearly, offensively we weren't clicking on all cylinders,” UVA head coach Ryan Odom said. “But the defense was a key aspect of the game for us tonight.”
With Pitt (9-14, 2-8) on a 5-0 run and UVA’s lead down to 12, Odom called a timeout with 8:52 remaining.
“We were just kind of standing around, not passing the ball like we typically do, not moving our bodies on offense,” Odom said. “[Pitt’s] press was slowing us down. We weren't executing against the press. We didn't turn it over against the press, but it just clearly slowed us. When we would get defensive rebounds, we weren't pushing the ball like we typically do, and so clearly, those are areas that we've got to attack and get better at.”
The Cavaliers were sharper after that timeout. Junior swingman Sam Lewis hit back-to-back 3-pointers to push UVA’s lead to 18, and his teammates made three more treys in the final 6:28. What pleased Odom most, however, was his team’s defensive intensity against Pitt.
“A lot of it's a mindset, a willingness to play to a good level and give max effort on every possession,” Odom said. “And we just encouraged our guys. It’s easy to get excited about offensive plays, big offensive plays. The guy makes an extra pass and then it ends up in a dunk for Ugo [Onyenso] or a wide-open 3 for Malik [Thomas], whatever the situation is. But if we can get excited about the defensive side and the plays that our guys make, whether it's Ugo blocking a shot at the rim or a really good contest. I thought a lot of the shots, even at the end of the game, several of them went in for them, but our guys were right there contesting those shots.”
The game was the Hoos’ first at JPJ since Jan. 24, when they lost to North Carolina. In the interim, they’d won two road games, the first at Notre Dame and the second at Boston College.
In each of those games, the Cavaliers needed comebacks to win. They wanted to start better against Pitt, and they did. A 12-0 run put UVA ahead to stay early in the first half, and the Panthers trailed by at least eight points for the final 25:49.
“Defensively, we wanted to do that for sure,” Odom said. “We wanted to kind of wrap our arms around the game as best we could on the defensive side of the ball. We knew they're an awesome rebounding team, offensive rebounding team. We knew that was going to be a big key to the game. The defensive possession really begins when the shot goes up a lot of times with them ... And so that's what we want to see. We want to see an energetic bunch on the defensive side of the ball that is willing to go deeper into the clock.”
At the other end of the court, Virginia shot 44.1% overall and 35.5% from 3-point range. Lewis, who was 4 for 8 from beyond the arc, led all scorers with 15 points.
“I know my role on this team,” Lewis said. “I feel like I can do it all, so I just pick my spots, play in the flow of the game, play in the rhythm, and that works for me.”
Point guard Chance Mallory added 11 points, three assists and four steals, and forward Thijs De Ridder and guard Malik Thomas scored 10 points apiece. Ugonna Onyenso, a 7-foot center, blocked a game-high four shots and grabbed six rebounds.
“They have a really good team,” Pitt head coach Jeff Capel said. “Their pieces fit.”
One of those pieces is the 6-foot-9 De Ridder, who continues to impress in his first season of college basketball. Against Pitt, he pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds and had three assists. The double-double was De Ridder’s third as a Cavalier, and it came in front of two of his biggest fans, who are visiting from Belgium.
“My parents are here for the second time in Charlottesville, so that's great,” De Ridder said.