Virginia basketball will aim for its second national title in seven years. But the first hurdle is the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. The Cavaliers have become tested already — including pulling out a gritty win over Syracuse.
This time, however, Ryan Odom is the one leading UVA as head coach. He walked in understanding the immense expectations of the job. Yet he's also guided his own NCAA Tournament runs at UMBC (which upset the Cavaliers in 2018 during the first round), Utah State and recently VCU.
Odom faces a fiercer challenge in Charlottesville. The ACC rises as the hardest conference he'll ever coach in. Because awaiting UVA come ACC tournament time are nationally ranked Duke, North Carolina and a Clemson take making its case for a March Madness bid. Even schools like Cal, Stanford, SMU plus a suddenly surging Florida State team are igniting momentum.
And that leads into a fatal flaw Odom and the Cavs must address beforehand.
Shooting could doom Virginia in ACC Tournament
Shooting consistency is a fatal flaw here.
Virginia isn't near the bottom of three-point efficiency. However, shooting at 35.4% from behind the arc could doom them from an ACC title.
Here's how UVA masks that deficiency: By fielding the conference's best three-point defense. Opponents only average 29.8% from three-land facing the defensive pressure Odom throws out onto the court.
Still, all it takes is one team that breaks through Virginia's long range defense. Teams like North Carolina State, SMU and Cal can test UVA if they come across each other inside the Spectrum Center in Charlotte.
How Virginia can make an ACC title run
UVA looks like the type of team that takes its first shot on defense — not with the basketball in its hand.
The Cavaliers are big on creating turnovers or forcing contested attempts, then turning it into points. They're 11th in steals among conference teams but have delivered the second-most blocked shots this season. The Cavs are eighth in turnover margin but fifth in assists/turnover ratio.
Ugonna Onyenso is one who embracing the defensive culture installed as the ACC's second-leading blocker. Johann Grunloh is right behind him with averaging 2.0 blocks a night. Chance Mallory is tops in steals among Cavs players at an average of 1.8 per game (sixth among ACC players).
Virginia still averages 81.4 points per game each night despite the lack of three-point consistency. Then are third overall in scoring defense (only Duke and Clemson have surrendered fewer points among conference teams).
Odom's first UVA team, though, must turn to defense and pounding inside the paint to wear down ACC foes between March 10-14 in Charlotte. Or they'll watch someone else cut down the nets after the conference championship game.
