After an untelevised exhibition under a modified quarters format for 48 minutes at Vanderbilt last week, the Virginia basketball team returned home Friday night to face Villanova. This exhibition served as a full dress rehearsal for the upcoming season as the teams played everything exactly like a regular season game, only it doesn't count in the standings.
In the end, UVA won 75-72 in a contest that looked a lot like you might expect for this early stage of the season. Both teams showed flashes of crisp play, particularly with individual scorers making play. The game also looked a little rough around the edges with some examples being turnovers for Virginia, free throw shooting for Villanova, and a slow start defensively for both teams. The final minute ended up as a late-game situation opportunity that both coaches should benefit from with their teams.
"I think it's nerve-racking for the coaches probably to be on display this early, but it's great for the fans," Cavalier coach Ryan Odom said with a chuckle. "Certainly in this particular year with so many new faces on our roster here at the University of Virginia, it was important to these guys out in front of our fans as quickly as we could. I thought they did a nice job tonight throughout the game. Certainly there are things we need to improve upon and we're looking forward to getting ready to attack those."
Virginia had 6 players score 7 points or more. Malik Thomas led the way with 16 points, while Johann Grünloh added 12 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 blocked shots. Thijs De Ridder had 8 points and 8 rebounds, while Jacari White also had 8 points to go with 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Ugonna Onyenso added 7 points, including another 3-pointer, and 3 blocked shots. Dallin Hall posted 7 points and 5 assists.
The Cavaliers shot 45.3% from the field overall (24-53). They finished at 38.5% from 3-point range (10-26) and 80.5% from the free throw line (17-19). That latter number included 2 clutch free throws from freshman Chance Mallory in the final minute.
Villanova had 5 players in double figures. Acaden Lewis led the Wildcats with 16 points and 5 assists, while Malachi Palmer (13), Matt Hodge (13), Tyler Perkins (11), and Christian Jeffrey (10) joined him with productive nights. The visitors shot 41.9% overall (26-62), 23.1% from 3-point range (6-26), and 63.6% from the free throw line (14-22).
Here are some takeaways from the Hoos' final tuneup before the season begins.
Malik Thomas Scored Efficiently For Virginia
As noted above, Thomas topped the scoring charts for UVA with 16 points. He had 18 points in the extended minutes exhibition at Vanderbilt too so he's showing his scoring ability as expected in the preseason setting. The San Francisco transfer averaged 19.9 points per game last season.
What impressed the most about Friday night's outing at the John Paul Jones Arena was how comfortably he put up those points. Thomas took only 10 shots and maybe one of those was somewhat forced. Otherwise, he let the opportunities come and then took advantage of them. He made 5 of 10 shots, including 3 of 4 3-pointers, and 3 of 3 free throws to get to his total.
Two plays in particular stood out.
In the first half's final minute, Thomas took a pass in the open floor and drove hard to the rim, splitting two defenders in the paint along the way. Thomas still managed to absorb some contact, turn his body, and hit a shot while drawing a foul. He made the free throw too that gave Virginia 40-35 lead at intermission. In the second half, Villanova cut the lead to 62-60 entering the final 5 minutes. After a possession for the Wildcats to try to tie or take the lead, Thomas quickly extended UVA's advantage to 65-60 with a 3-pointer from the right wing.
Those two examples show versatility and an understanding of when a bucket is needed as both came when Villanova had the score within 2 points.
"He's a natural scorer," Odom said. "He can shoot behind the arc, he can get to the basket, he draws fouls - he's always done that throughout his career - an I thought he had a good night tonight."
Sharing The Ball Is There, Protecting It Is Not
Virginia made 24 shots in the exhibition "win" Friday. The Hoos logged 15 assists on those 24 makes, a 62.5% assist rate. That matches the unselfish descriptor Odom gave his team at a preseason media session and held up to the style his teams have played through the years.
Hall led the category with 5 assists, while Elijah Getrude, White, Mallory, and Grünloh all had 2 assists. Devin Tillis and De Ridder both added 1.
On the other hand, Virginia also had 18 turnovers. Obviously that's too high and Odom said you never want to be at negative ratio there. He attributed some of the struggles to tentativeness with the ball, particularly when Villanova upped its pressure in the second half. He also said some stagnant ball movement, spacing issues, and switching defense caused some problems. There were also some of the garden variety turnovers among new teammates where one player thought a certain cut or opening was there, but the other did not and the ball was lost in the communication gap.
"I think we're just going to continue to get better as a team with sharing the ball, trusting one another," Thomas said. "This is our first two games playing with each other so I think it's going to come with time. I think we made some incredible plays for each other and that's just going to continue to get better."
Containing Drives, Rebounding Need Work On Defense
On the way to its first 33 points, Villanova torched Virginia to the tune of 65.0% shooting. Through that point of the game, Nova had made 13 of 20 shots. That included 7 straight makes at one point with 2 easier buckets coming off Virginia turnovers. A Palmer 3-pointer gave the Wildcats a lead at 33-31 with 3:45 to go in the first half at the end of that stretch.
The Cavaliers played much better defensively after that bad run, though. The Wildcats made 13 of 42 shots the rest of the way, a 30.95% clip aided by some missed opportunities but also impacted by improved execution and intensity. Virginia had 7 steals and 7 blocked shots in the final stats.
Comparing it to the first exhibition at Vanderbilt, Odom's initial impression was that the Hoos made a lot of progress in a week. He thought the fullcourt pressure stayed in contact more and he thought the players reacted more quickly into the pressure after scoring in this game than in the first one. It was clear from his wording that the team had been challenged on that front. There were a couple of spurts where the pressure rattled Villanova and led to easy points.
"Defensively, I thought much better than the last game, certainly more intensity, more willingness to play deeper into the clock and then also we got into our 24 defense a little bit better in this game than we did the previous one," Odom said. "I thought the help was there for the most part even though they had some open looks there that didn't go down for them. Clearly things we've got to get better at. Our switching defense left a lot to be desired. Several guys at the end of the game were wide open so we've got to work on it."
Virginia did commit 18 fouls and that led to 22 Nova free throw attempts and 14 points. UVA also allowed 14 offensive rebounds that produced 15 second chance points for the Wildcats. Odom had identified both fouling and defensive rebounding as areas that needed attention before the two exhibition games and both still needs work. Better containment on drives could help both categories. Much of Villanova's early shooting success came from winning off the dribble and some of the rebounds and fouls came as a direct result of a UVA defender getting beat too cleanly on a drive.
"You probably know where I am on that - we've got to get better," Odom said. "We've got to block out better. We can't face block out, we've got to get our backs to them, be more physical. Part of that was due to the fact they were getting down in there some and our bigs are coming over to help and then the shots going up. Some of it was the shooter getting their own rebound and tipping it. We've just got to be better."
Rotation Still Taking Shape
Virginia shuffled 11 players into the game Friday night. Thomas led the Hoos with 29 minutes played, while Hall was next in line with 27. De Ridder and Grünloh logged 26 and 24 respectively. Those four players started alongside Sam Lewis, who played 10 minutes. White posted 21 minutes off the bench followed by Mallory and at 17. Onyenso and Tillis played 14 minutes each, while Getrude added 12. Martin Carrere got 1 minute and made a 3-pointer while he was on the floor.
Odom said getting that many players into the game is not a sign of uncertainty, but how he likes to use a roster with pressure defense and a higher tempo as part of the style. That requires more breaks in order to maintain intensity, he said. The Hoos did get Getrude more extended PT in this game than at Vanderbilt and Odom briefly indicated that Lewis and Tillis may warrant more minutes in other situations. He praised Onyenso as "doing really well" with his minutes in the two exhibition games.
Don't expect the frequent substitutions or use of 9-11 players to subside any time soon. The Wahoos open the season officially against Rider on Monday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. at the JPJ. Games against North Carolina Central, Hampton, and Marshall follow in Charlottesville over the first two weeks of the season. All of those contests are just as likely as the exhibition games to see a lot more of players getting opportunities.
"To start the year, yes. I've got to see what these guys can do under the lights," Odom said. "We want 9, 10 guys to be able to go in the game and help us. I told the team just a second ago, everybody that got in the game impacted the game in a positive way. It's just we have to do it a little bit more consistently."
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