In front of a crowd of more than 14,000, Virginia turned back the clock in a 70-55 win over Stanford.
No, not due to the Cavaliers honoring the 1995 Elite Eight team, but the most recent past of UVA basketball under Tony Bennett. While Virginia has relied on a top 5 scoring offensive in the ACC (86.1 points per game), Ryan Odom’s defense took another leap against the Cardinal.
The sounds of John Paul Jones Arena sounded almost indistinguishable from the Bennett era as a frantic Stanford offense rushed towards the end of a shot clock only to hear the buzzer sound as the clock hit zero and a crowd erupt to the tune of six - yes six - forced shot clock violations.
"Our guys did a nice job defensively on a night where our offense wasn't great down the stretch," Odom said. "For the most part our guys did a really nice job on the defensive, defensive end. So proud of that and seeing some improvements there."
Stanford came into the game off of back-to-back impressive wins over Louisville and Virginia Tech, led by star freshman guard Ebuka Okorie averaging 22.6 points per game this season. The freshman was limited, however, to just 14 points on 5-20 shooting (0-6 from 3-point range) in 30 minutes. Still the Cardinal hung around and only trailed by 5 points at the beginning of the second half, until UVA went on an 18-2 run coinciding with Stanford only making 1 of 17 field goal attempts during that stretch.
"I thought their defense took us out of some stuff, we settled for some bad shots and got down and couldn't quite recover," Stanford coach Kyle Smith said. "And then that stretch there where [Ugo] Onyenso blocked like five shots, it really kind of dampened their spirits."
Virginia was led by Thijs De Ridder with a game-high 22 points, his 8th 20-plus point game of the season. Fellow freshman Chance Mallory had 13 points off the bench along with 2 steals and Malik Thomas finished with 11 points, his fifth straight game in double figures.
The win pushed UVA to 14-2 (3-1 ACC) on the season and moved the Cavaliers to 10-0 in the friendly confines of JPJ. Virginia will begin a tough three-game stretch next though with trips to No. 20 Louisville and No. 24 SMU before returning home on Jan. 24 to host No. 17 North Carolina.
Here are three takeaways from Virginia’s 70-55 win over Stanford.
A Different Kind Of The Same Beauty
Recently college basketball reporter Jon Rothstein bequeathed a new phrase on UVA basketball: "A Different Kind of Beauty." But Saturday's flurry of shot clock buzzers might show there's a still a lot of the same beauty in Virginia basketball under Ryan Odom.
The Cavaliers forced Stanford into six shot clock violations, including four in the first half. Despite Stanford coach Kyle Smith contending that one was due to a clock era on the officials, six called shot clock violations is an impressive feat. No one has an official tally on what the shot clock violation record for a single game is at Virginia, (how is that something UVA record books don't track) but it's safe to say it's a rare accomplishment.
"I feel like we're just playing together as a team, wearing them down is what we try to do," UVA guard Chance Mallory said. "I feel like we put that pressure on them in the first half and then as soon as the second half goes, they just keep facing our press and our ball pressure and us keeping our chest in front. I feel like that wears a team down and I feel like it showed in the past couple games."
Smith gave the majority of credit to the Virginia defensive system for forcing those violations. Odom's fullcourt press relies less on forcing turnovers and more on delaying a team from getting into its halfcourt sets. That gives the opponent less time on the shot clock. Stanford felt all too often the pressure of the ticking clock.
"You're going to earn getting it across halfcourt," Smith said. "Takes you out of your start."
Defense was a major question mark for Virginia and through the first few months of the season it was warranted, but over the last stretch of games the less glamorous side has taken a turn. The Cavaliers have held their last three ACC opponents to just 58.6 points on average and even in the loss to Virginia Tech in triple overtime, the Hokies were held to just 55 points in regulation.
"You can see the understanding how we're trying to play defense, just the connectivity," Odom said. "I think communication is a big part of it, the efforts are there, the understanding that we can get teams deeper into the clock, the press certainly could help with that and and I think finishing with a rebound. I mean that's one of the keys is like getting the ball at the end. You can force all the misses you want but if you can't rebound the basketball, well, you didn't play the defense that you set out to play."
There was no better example of a more connected defensive structure than Virginia's efforts against Stanford star Ebuka Okorie. The freshman guard entered the game ranked second in the ACC in scoring at 22.6 points per game, including recent 31- and 28-point outings against Virginia Tech and Louisville, respectively.
While Dallin Hall got the initial matchup against Okorie, Malik Thomas, Sam Lewis, and especially Chance Mallory took turns defending the Cardinal star guard. Okorie scored just 1 point in the first 10 minutes of the game before scoring 13 in the final 10 minutes of the first half. Following halftime, though, Okorie was held scoreless on 0-7 shooting in 13 minutes.
To keep a scorer like Okorie at bay, Odom said the entire defense was needed. The Stanford guard found this out a few times having 4 shots blocked by 7-foot centers Ugonna Onyenso and Johann Grünloh.
"We talked all week about guarding him with five guys and not one, trying to keep him off balance and pick and roll coverages," Odom said. "He demands a double team at times. Sometimes to get them inside we had to test it to see with our bigs to see if he could get in there and finish over them some or kind of how that would play out. And so we were prepared to do both and you know we kind of stuck with our main pick and roll coverage."
The recent stretch on defense has moved Virginia up to No. 22 in defensive rating on KenPom, making the Cavaliers one of 13 teams in the country in the top 25 for both offensive (No. 16) and defensive rating.
Chance Mallory’s Special Freshman Season
All eyes were on a freshman guard in Charlottesville on Saturday afternoon, but by the end of 40 minutes the talk was all about the opposing first-year guard. Chance Mallory continues to prove he's beyond his years with mature performances at key moments. On two different occasions in the first half Saturday, the Cardinal closed the gap to just 2 points, which were answered by well-timed Mallory 3-pointers on a day where few others were hitting shots.
Mallory finished the day with 13 points on 4-8 shooting, 3 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals. His freshman counterpart in Ebuka Okorie was held well below his season scoring average. While Dallin Hall started on Okorie, Mallory picked up the assignment almost instantly when coming off the bench in a chance to prove himself further among a deep and talented freshman class this year in college basketball.
"I feel like it's the same for every game I play," Mallory said. "But he's obviously a great player, great freshman, he's having a great season."
Earlier this week college basketball analytics expert Evan Miyakawa released his top freshmen in college basketball rankings, based on his Bayesian Performance Rating. Three Virginia freshmen were ranked in the top 25 in Mallory, Thijs De Ridder, and Johann Grünloh, but Mallory was ranked highest at No. 9. Okorie was ranked No. 24 and the ratings tended to hold true in their head-to-head matchup.
"Bring Mallory in, and we said that was a key cover coming into the game, he brings a lot of energy off the bench, he's a good player," Stanford coach Kyle Smith said. "Two-way player, and he did a good job of changing that game that got in there."
Thijs De Ridder Adjusting To ACC Play
For anyone doubting how Thijs De Ridder would handle ACC play, the Belgian continues to answer the bell.
De Ridder finished with a game-high 22 points against Stanford, already his second 20-plus point game through four ACC games. The 22-year old, and soon to be 23 on Jan. 31, has averaged 17.5 points to begin life in conference play and has impressed his coach Ryan Odom.
"He took what the defense gave to him," Odom said. "When he starts driving to the basket, it's like I'm looking at him like he's athletic, he’s strong, he's physical getting in there. It's got to be hard for the opponent to guard that."
De Ridder has already seen several different defensive strategies used against him from double teams in the post to Virginia Tech forcing him to settle for 3's, which worked to the tune of a 3-11 shooting day in Blacksburg. But each time the former European professional has found a way to make an impact, typically by just being aggressive.
"He's just strong and skilled, and he plays like the vet," Stanford coach Kyle Smith said. "He's one of those guys I thought we did a pretty good job on him and he had 22. I thought it was a really quiet, efficient 22. But you gotta fight him, he's a bear. He's gonna keep trying, finding contacts, spinning off you. He's really aggressive."
Overall the difference so far this season for De Ridder between his overall stats and his output against power conference level opponents is very similar. The Belgian is averaging 16.1 points for the season, which only drops to 15.8 in Virginia's eight games against power conference teams. Tougher matchups are ahead, especially with three ranked ACC as Virginia's next three opponents, but De Ridder has proven himself well so far.
"The ball was finding me well and I had the confidence from the beginning of the game already," De Ridder said. "I think my team and some of my coaches did a great job giving me that confidence and just there's the process here and just keep working like I always did."
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