The Virginia Cavaliers opened the Ryan Odom era with a win on Monday night, beating Rider 87-53 while dominating the offensive glass and barely turning the ball over.
UVA recorded 22 offensive rebounds on Monday evening. The last time the ‘Hoos grabbed that many offensive boards? Nearly 10 years ago on Nov. 13, 2015 when (the now-retired) Malcolm Brogdon, Tony Bennett, and the Cavaliers tipped off against Morgan State in their season opener.
As he did on the scoring front as well, Thijs de Ridder led
the charge on the glass with 10 rebounds including six on offense. Six different Wahoos had two or more offensive rebounds with Sam Lewis (three), Jacari White (three), Johann Gruenloh (two), Chance Mallory (two), and Ugonna Onyenso (two) all repeatedly getting in on the action.
Those efforts netted 26 second chance points and contributed to the Cavaliers’ 42 points in the paint. UVA straight up bullied Rider with its size and effort on its misses. Of course, the sheer volume of offensive boards is in some part thanks to how much Virginia struggled to shoot the rock from three and at the free throw line.
The ‘Hoos shot 2-for-19 (10.5%) from deep in the first half alongside a 12-for-19 (63.2%) mark at the charity stripe. The efficiency from deep was better in the second half (6-for-11 as White and Mallory got going), improving the team’s overall number to a poor, but more respectable 26.7% from three.
The free throw shooting got worse, though, dropping to 55.9% across the full 40 minutes. The Cavaliers’ starting small forward Lewis, starting power forward De Ridder, and starting center Gruenloh combined to shoot 44.4% at the line.
That’s why the way that Virginia took care of the ball was particularly valuable against Rider. The Cavaliers only turned the ball over six times in 40 minutes with one coming from preferred walk-on Desmond Roberts in the final minute of action. Thomas (two), Hall (one), Mallory (one), and White (one) were the only other offenders with the frontcourt playing a clean game.
As the athleticism of Virginia’s opponents ramps up, the team won’t be able to rely on such dominance on the glass nor such error-free ball. The ‘Hoos will need to be a better shooting team, and they should be. This squad is full of capable deep ball threats and enough pure shooting ability that should apply to success at the free throw line.
If anything, it’s encouraging to see that they are capable of winning in different ways. UVA dominated the possession battle versus Rider and, while that’s not sustainable on a game-to-game basis, it’s a feather in the cap for Odom’s Wahoos.
