The expectations are different this year. Virginia opened its second season under Ryan Odom on Tuesday night as the No. 9 team in the preseason AP poll, its highest preseason ranking since 2020-21, coming off a 30-6 season. Unlike last fall, when Odom introduced an almost entirely new roster, most of the faces at John Paul Jones Arena were familiar. Odom brought back every scholarship player with eligibility remaining.
Drexel was not expected to test that. The Dragons went 17-16 last season, were picked ninth in the CAA preseason coaches poll and arrived with a roster built largely around freshmen.
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For the first 20 minutes, Virginia looked every bit like a top-10 team. It jumped out to a 14-2 lead in the first 2:20, led 51-27 at halftime and never trailed. The second half was messier, but the result was never in doubt.
Here are my six takeaways from the opener.
It took De Ridder five seconds to score Virginia’s first points of the season, and he did not slow down from there.
In the first two and a half minutes, the ACC Preseason Player of the Year had 12 points, a rebound and a steal. He brought the ball up the floor and pulled up for a three, knocked down another off an assist, then scored on a layup and a putback. Drexel had no answer. Later in the half, he bullied his way inside for a layup, turned a steal into a pump fake and a Euro step through two defenders, a play that showed everything he can do with the ball.
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Toward the end of this tear, De Ridder was backing down Drexel’s David Simonovic when the 6-foot-11 freshman violently threw him to the ground. De Ridder had to be restrained by his teammates. The play resulted in a flagrant 1 but was reviewed for a potential flagrant 2. De Ridder made both free throws.
He went into halftime with 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting and finished with 24 points on 9-of-15, 2-of-4 from three and 4-of-4 at the line. He added nine rebounds, three of them offensive, two steals and no turnovers in 27 minutes.
What stands out is how many ways he can hurt a defense. He initiated offense in transition, posted up smaller defenders, popped for threes and, in the second half, set the ball screen that freed Jurian Dixon for a pull-up. He also twice used his size to find Johann Grünloh inside, and Grünloh drew a foul both times. Those plays do not show up as assists in the box score, but they are another way he impacts winning. A year ago, he averaged 15.6 points a game on his way to first-team All-ACC. If De Ridder can maintain the fire and poise he showed against Drexel, he will mount a strong challenge for ACC Player of the Year.
Virginia finished with 18 steals, a new John Paul Jones Arena record. The previous mark was 16.
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Drexel turned it over 21 times, 15 of them in the first half, and Virginia converted those turnovers into 25 points to Drexel’s 10. The Cavaliers also won fast-break points 29-7. The pressure came from everywhere: seven different players recorded a steal, led by Chance Mallory with four and Sam Lewis, Nolan Adekunle and Elijah Gertrude with three apiece. Virginia pressed, jumped passing lanes and forced a shot-clock violation in the first half, a UVA tradition, and a five-second violation in the second. Halfway through the first half, Drexel had just nine points.
Last year, Virginia used a sort of half-court press to slow down opposing offenses, and it ranked 150th nationally in steals. This season, it is clearly playing to maximize takeaways.
Last season, Virginia committed 389 turnovers and forced only 376. Tuesday, it was plus-seven in that department, and it was pushing the pace harder than it did a year ago. With size at nearly every position, Virginia makes it hard for opponents to throw over the pressure.
That said, this must be taken with a grain of salt. Drexel is a freshman-heavy team picked ninth in its own conference, and several of the turnovers came from simple ball-handling mistakes. Sunday against Arkansas will be a better measure of how much of this holds up against better competition.
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The first half was as good as Virginia could have hoped for. The Cavaliers shot 19-of-36, 53 percent, forced 15 turnovers and built a 24-point lead.
The second half was not. Virginia won it 38-33, but it shot 13-of-31, 42 percent, and turned the ball over eight times to Drexel’s six. Mallory opened the half with two straight turnovers, a poor entry pass to Grünloh and a travel. Lewis missed a mid-range fadeaway, De Ridder missed a mid-range jumper and a three, and Virginia scored seven points in the first seven and a half minutes of the half. Drexel cut the lead under 20 before a Mallory step-back three pushed it back to 22.
Virginia had the opportunity for a massive 40-point blowout that would have given it a boost in the analytics rankings, but this stretch cost it. Virginia opened as a 26.5-point favorite on DraftKings, and the line moved to 31.5 by tipoff, so the 29-point win did not cover the spread.
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For long stretches, Drexel played Virginia roughly even. Some of that was a lack of urgency with a big lead, and some of it was Odom resting his starters. But some of it was shot selection, especially by the bench. Virginia passed up open looks to swing the ball one more time, and when it did shoot, it settled for threes that were not falling. At one point, Virginia was 6-of-23 from three.
Virginia did close strong. A 10-0 run, capped by Adekunle’s strip steal and finish, made it 83-49 with 4:17 left and forced a Drexel timeout. That essentially iced the game, and Odom put in the green team. The lead peaked at 36.
Again, Virginia was able to weather this poor stretch Tuesday because of the overmatched opponent. But Odom built a much tougher nonconference schedule this year, and Virginia will need to improve to pass its upcoming tests.
A year after Odom had to build a team essentially from scratch, he now gets to enjoy some of the best retention in college basketball.
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The big four returners — De Ridder, Lewis, Grünloh and Mallory — scored 63 of Virginia’s 89 points. They were also the top four in minutes. Lewis had 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting, 4-of-6 from three and 4-of-4 at the line, with three assists, three steals and one turnover. His three-ball looked amazing in what was a poor game overall for the Cavaliers behind the line. Everyone else went 6-of-23. His step-back three in the middle of the 10-0 run helped put the game away. Grünloh added 11 points and nine rebounds, four of them offensive, and did the dirty work inside. Outside of De Ridder, he looks like the second-most important player on this team because of the lack of frontcourt depth, and he will play big minutes this year. In all, returners scored 72 points.
The familiarity also showed in the press. Virginia’s rotations were in sync from the opening tip, which usually takes a rebuilt roster weeks to find. Virginia also improved at the line. Virginia went 15-of-19, 79 percent, after shooting 72.8 percent last season, and the four core returners went 12-of-13.
This is what keeping a 30-win core together buys. Even on a night when the offense stalls for a half, Virginia’s core provides a level of stability that gives this team a high floor.
If I had to make one note, it would be Mallory. As always, his grit in all the little things was incredible: tenacious defense that resulted in a team-high four steals, boxing out and securing rebounds against much taller players and diving for loose balls.
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He also helped command the offense. That said, he had six turnovers and shot 2-of-7 from the field. That included the two to open the second half and a travel in the first. At times, he looked out of control and a little uncomfortable on offense. After missing time with an ankle injury this preseason, some rust is understandable. However, he will need a cleaner game for Virginia to win this weekend against Arkansas.
Virginia’s bench scored 21 points. Dixon and Gertrude scored 15 of them on 6-of-10 shooting in 27 combined minutes, with five steals between them.
Gertrude was the talk of the town this preseason after his trio of excellent performances in the exhibitions. However, some wondered if that would translate to the regular season. Those questions were answered Tuesday.
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Gertrude was one of the first players off the bench and made an impact quickly. He threw an alley-oop to Grünloh off a turnover, picked off a pass and finished at the rim, threaded a bounce pass through two defenders to Mallory that got the crowd into it and hit a pull-up three with plenty of confidence. In the second half, he finished an out-of-bounds play with a dunk. He finished with eight points, four rebounds, two assists, three steals and a block in 15 minutes. It was not perfect. He lost the handle on one early possession and airballed a three in the second half. But after leading Virginia in scoring against Vanderbilt and adding 16 at Villanova, he has made it hard to keep him off the floor.
Dixon, who had been a casualty of the Gertrude breakout, got into the game later. He replaced Jan Vide with 6:18 left in the first half, and on his first defensive possession, he helped force a poor post entry. He was active on defense all night. In the second half, he made a pull-up off a De Ridder ball screen, got a hand on a pass with an athletic leap, picked off another and threw down a slam that brought the bench off its chairs, then answered a Drexel basket with a three. He finished with seven points on 3-of-4 shooting and two steals in 12 minutes. He impressed me both with his shot and his defensive intensity. I doubt he will have as big a role as was initially projected when he joined. However, I think the discussion swung too far in the other direction after his quiet exhibition play. He looks like a valuable piece for this team.
Elsewhere on the bench, Vide hit a nice mid-range shot off an in-and-out dribble in seven minutes, and Christian Harmon went 0-of-2 from three in six. Martin Carrere was one of the first players off the bench, but he looked hesitant in nine minutes and went 0-of-2. I have yet to fully buy in on him.
Grünloh played 29 minutes, the most on the team. That is partly because the options behind him and De Ridder are still unproven.
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Kalu Anya, Silas Barksdale and Favour Ibe combined for 26 minutes and managed just three points on 1-of-4 shooting, four rebounds and three turnovers. Anya had a good rebound and finished a great feed from Lewis under the basket, but that was his only rebound in 16 minutes, something that is supposed to be a strength of his game. Barksdale only came in at the end of the game with the green team, played four minutes and was blocked on his one attempt from the field.
Ibe did not play until the closing minutes of both halves, with his hand still wrapped. When he did get in, Drexel went right at him. He pump-faked a three and tried to find Anya underneath, but a miscommunication led to a turnover. He then played good defense and secured a rebound, only to pick up his dribble against the press for a second turnover. He made one of two free throws, and the form looked fine. Overall, he looked very much like a freshman, which he is.
The rim protection question from the exhibition season has not gone away either. Virginia had three blocks, one each from De Ridder, Grünloh and Gertrude, and Drexel had four. For a team that led the nation with 6.4 blocks per game a year ago, I struggle to see it coming close to replicating that this year.
There was also a scare. Grünloh went to the tunnel to be checked out in the first half and was wincing coming off the court. He gave the bench a thumbs up and returned, but it was a reminder of how thin Virginia is behind him. Grünloh, who broke his right wrist in last season’s ACC Tournament and played through it, has already been banged up once, which concerns me because he is absolutely vital to this team.
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If he misses time, Odom would be leaning on a freshman and two forwards who combined for one field goal Tuesday.
Virginia’s starters took 48 shots in 125 minutes. Outside of Dixon and Gertrude, the bench took nine in 48.
Anya was the clearest example. He passed up several open threes, and on one possession in the second half, he swung the ball to Grünloh with just a few seconds left on the shot clock basically guaranteeing a turnover. He finished 1-of-3, 0-of-1 from three, in 16 minutes. To his credit, he had three assists. But if defenses decide a player will not shoot, they will sag off him and clog the lane for De Ridder and Grünloh. Anya and the rest of the second unit need to take the open looks.
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Virginia hosts Northeastern on Friday, Nov. 6, before the much-anticipated showdown with Arkansas on Sunday, Nov. 8, at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
Arkansas is the first real test, and it is another physical SEC team. Vanderbilt pushed Virginia around inside in September, and Tennessee did the same in March. It will expose some of the flaws we saw Tuesday if Virginia is not careful.
Virginia looked dominant for long stretches of this game. It will need to play with a similar level of intensity for a full 40 minutes Sunday if it wants to come out victorious.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
