In the festive spirit, Queens University coach Grant Leonard wore a brown sweater to John Paul Jones Arena with “Leftover Are For Quitters” sewn across the front. Virginia didn’t leave much on the plate in its Thanksgiving spectacular though, handling the Royals 94-69.
UVA used a 16-0 run in the first half and a 20-2 run in the second half to move to 6-1 under Ryan Odom, less than a week after suffering its first loss of the season to Butler at the Greenbrier Tip-Off Classic. The effort was mainly fueled by a 3-point barrage as the Cavaliers went 15-33 from beyond the arc with nearly 50% of their points coming on triples, marking the most 3’s made this season and the second most attempts. The 15 made 3’s were the most by a Virginia team since 2022-23 when the Cavaliers made 15 at Wake Forest, while the program has only hit 15 made 3’s in a single game six times since 2010 prior to Friday.
Thijs De Ridder led all scorers with an efficient 21 points on 8-10 shooting, his fifth game this season with 20-plus points. Six Cavaliers finished in double figures led by De Ridder, Sam Lewis with a season-high 15 points, Johann Grünloh with 13, Devin Tillis with a season-high 13, and Chance Mallory and Jacari White with 11 each off the bench.
“This was a big game for us, especially coming off the first loss of the season against a good Butler team,” Virginia coach Ryan Odom said. “We learned a lot through the course of that weekend about ourselves, some stuff we liked, some stuff we certainly need to improve on.”
One of the areas Odom specifically targeted after the loss at Butler was defense. Odom referred to Queens as “one of the top offenses in the country,” as the opposing team ranked 92nd in offensive rating according to KenPom entering the day. The Royals’ use a unique five-out offense utilizing flare screens and slips to the rim. While Odom came away from the game pleased overall, he was less so defensively. Queens was held to 1.095 points per possession, under their season average of 1.114, but Virginia struggled to close out on shooters and keep the Royals off the offensive glass, who out rebounded one of the top offensive rebound teams in the country in UVA 18-14.
“Too many times we’re getting beat off the bounce, getting caught in some communication errors,” Odom said postgame. “The defensive rebounding was not where it needed to be in this particular game. We had it going in spurts, but it wasn’t a consistent effort overall.”
Odom wants not only the offensive glass, but also defensive rebounding to become a staple for Virginia. That will be an emphasis over the next few days as the Cavaliers prepare for the first true road test of the Odom era with a trip to Texas for the ACC-SEC Challenge on Wednesday.
“We needed that just to see who we really are,” Lewis said. “So we can go into Texas ready.”
Here are three more takeaways from Virginia’s win over Queens.
The Odom Identity
If Ryan Odom wasn’t happy defensively, there certainly wasn’t much to nitpick offensively. Virginia not only made a season-high in 3’s, but also had fewer than 10 turnovers, shot 53.3% from the field overall, and 45.5% from 3-point range. The Hoos had six scorers in double figures and scored 1.541 points per possession, which is number that would rank No. 1 nationally over the course of a season (in reality UVA ranks No. 17 nationally at 1.222 heading into Friday).
But more than all those numbers, Odom just wanted to see his team pass the ball.
“Just passing, that was the first thing,” Odom said. “I think we got a little seduced from the Northwestern game because we drew so many fouls, we got seduced into the dribble and not the pass and you’ve got to have a balance of both. It’s not that we don’t want to dribble, we certainly want to dribble, but when you dribble is really important.”
After combining for just 14 assists at the Greenbrier in games against Northwestern and Butler, UVA turned around on Friday and dished out a season-high 14 assists. Seven players contributed at least 2 assists on the night, including guard Dallin Hall with a game-high 5.
“Coach Odom's identity for all his teams has been sharing the ball,” Virginia forward Devin Tillis said. “I think a lot of people saw that we probably didn’t share it the best at the Greenbrier. So we really got back to who we were, because that needs to be our identity going forward, because we play a lot better when the ball’s moving fast.”
The Royals never made it easy on UVA to try to find that “Odom identity” as they threw multiple defensive looks at the Cavaliers from a 1-3-1 zone, to a 2-3 zone, to man-to-man with a trap at the top of the key. But there was little Queens could to slow down Odom’s offense as players passed through the zones, making quick reads, which typically led to open 3’s.
The ball movement is partly why Virginia not only made a season-high 15 threes, but also shot 45.5% from distance, the second highest clip of the season. Queens head coach Grant Leonard is more than familiar with Odom and his system. The two coached against each other at the Division II level while Odom was at Lenoir-Rhyne, with Leonard saying Odom’s offense was “always ahead of the curve” and it looks like it’s repeating itself at Virginia now.
“The thing that Ryan is building is five guys that can dribble, pass, and shoot, and that can make decisions with the ball,” Leonard said postgame. “You can see that from those two bigs especially. Man, they make great decisions with the basketball. So they didn’t have a lot of turnovers despite the different looks, which makes it really difficult.”
Speaking of those two bigs, freshman Johann Grünloh finally started to show off his full arsenal with his first career double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds, along with 2 assists, 2 blocks, and 2 steals. The most striking number of the night, though, was the 2-2 from 3 - Grünloh came into the night only 1-11 from distance. The shooting has always been a tantalizing skillset for the German, but one that has not been fully realized yet.
“It helps his psyche too, because he knows he can make shots and hasn’t so far this season, but he can’t become hyper-focused on the 3,” Odom said. “The 3 is kind of like the dessert. It’s not where he needs to really focus his efforts. He’s got to be able to finish inside, he’s got to be able to catch it around the basket, he’s got to be able to block shots, all the things that he’s doing, and some better than others. And then when teams back off, he can knock it down.”
Devin Tillis Getting Back In Rhythm
If it looked like Devin Tillis was a little rusty at the Greenbrier Tip-Off, that’s because it was his first five-on-five action in a month.
“I had to kind of get back into the rhythm of things,” Tillis said. “But I think it’s coming along really fast and really well.”
Tillis was only recently cleared to play a week ago against Northwestern after having his knee scoped following the October exhibition game against Villanova. Prior to Virginia’s season opener against Rider, Tillis was on crutches and Odom cautioned the Hoos would take things slow with Tillis.
“The doctor, after I had my scope, was like, you could be back in three weeks,” Tillis said. “But then everybody else was like, we’re not going to rush you. But I think everybody was kind of surprised kind of how I came along and in doing some individual workouts with the coaches, they were like, I think he’s ready.”
After playing 7 minutes against Northwestern and 10 minutes against Butler, Tillis looked ready for more. The fifth-year senior played a season-high 18 minutes and scored 13 points with 5 rebounds in the win over Queens.
Now that Tillis answered if he was “ready” to play, the question for UVA shifts to how much and where. Odom, and Tillis for that matter, made it clear the UC Irvine transfer will come off the bench behind Thijs De Ridder, but the coaches are also experimenting with other ways to use Tillis. In both the Butler game and against Queens, the Cavaliers rolled out a lineup with Tillis at the small forward slot next to De Ridder and a traditional center.
“I think we’re trying to figure out can he sub for other positions as well,” Odom said. “I think it’s just something that we’re gonna go to and we’re gonna need over the course of the season and we’re gonna want to cultivate.”
Tillis offers a different look off the bench after averaging 13.7 points and 7.8 rebounds per game last year at UC Irvine, but also a steady veteran presence. As De Ridder continues to power the UVA offense, Tillis will provide a strong option to spell the Belgian and even play alongside him in certain lineups.
“I have an NBA player that I get to play with in Thijs De Ridder,” Tillis said. “So just finding my spots when I need to get in there. Like, literally, last week, I told Coach Odom, I said, hey, whenever you need me, just throw me in there. I got you.”
Sam Lewis Growing More Comfortable
A year ago Sam Lewis led Toledo in scoring at 16.2 points per game, shot 44.4% from 3, and earned second team All-MAC honors. This year though, the 6’7” wing is adjusting to a new role with the Cavaliers and is starting to gel with it.
“Sam’s a really good player and we have quite a few good players on our roster and guys that deserve time and deserve attention,” Odom said. “But Sam understands that the open guy a lot of times is the go-to guy for us. And the more that we pass the ball to one another, the ball will find you.”
Lewis has been one of the more consistent performers for Virginia in the early season, averaging 10.4 points. The junior has scored in double figures now five times, highlighted by his season-high 15 points against Queens. He’s hit at least one 3-pointer in six of Virginia’s seven games so far. Surrounded by shot creators like Thijs De Ridder, Dallin Hall, Malik Thomas, and Jacari White, Lewis is the prototypical 3-and-D wing with the ability to attack closeouts against team’s worried about his team-leading 44.4% clip from deep.
“I thought Sam did a nice job of picking his spots tonight,” Odom said. “And most importantly, his defense was pretty good, too.”
One of the more exciting parts about Lewis for the UVA coaching staff is the fact he has another year of eligibility. Lewis has started to feel more at ease picking his spots within the offense and is showing the ability to grow into a key role for the Cavaliers.
“Coaches believe in me,” Lewis said. “Just finding my place and my role and what the coaches want me to do every single day I step into practice. So I feel like it’s been going well, I just got to keep being comfortable with the team.”
7 Comments