First-year coach Ryan Odom and Virginia seek first NCAA Tournament win in 7 years
The last time Virginia won an NCAA Tournament game, Tony Bennett and the Cavaliers celebrated by cutting down the nets after defeating Texas Tech 85-77 in an overtime thriller for the national championship.
That was seven years ago.
The Cavaliers men’s basketball progam faded after that. Virginia has reached the NCAA Tournament three times in the past five years only to get knocked out in the First Four once and the first round twice.
Virginia (29-5) is back and ready to snap that dubious drought, if not contend for a national title.
First-year coach Ryan Odom — the same guy who led 16-seed UMBC to the historic upset of No. 1 overall seed Virginia in 2018 — has the Cavaliers playing well entering this year's tournament. The Cavaliers have won 13 of their last 15 games and took No. 1 Duke to the wire in the ACC Tournament championship game.
Virginia is the No 3. overall seed in the Midwest Region and will face 14-seed Wright State on Friday.
“I can’t speak for what happened before I got here, but obviously coach Bennett really established an incredible program, and with everything that happened with him leaving they had a rough patch," said Virginia guard Dallin Hall, a BYU transfer. “But coach Odom is really good at inspiring confidence in his players. We felt like we’ve been the top team in the country all year long, just with the talent we have, the coaching staff, the culture.”
Hall described Odom as a players' coach who gives players the freedom and confidence to reach their full potential on the court.
This isn't the same style of Virginia team that many had come to know under Bennett.
For years, Virginia played what was called “Bennett Ball,” a methodical, defensive-first approach that emphasized offensive efficiency and a slow pace. Bennett designed the approach to control the tempo of the game and takec opponents out of the flow of their game.
This year, Virginia is 72nd in the nation in scoring offense under Odom, averaging 80.6 points per game.
“When we’re not being on the attack, being the aggressors, as we like to say it, he really gets on us,” Hall said. “He wants us to just go for it. That’s a term we use a lot.”
Defensively, the Cavaliers are still good.
They are first in the nation in blocked shots per game (6.5), led by Ugonna Onyenso, who had nine rejections against Duke — four of those coming against ACC player of the year Cameron Boozer. He finished with 21 blocks in three ACC Tournament games, obliterating Tim Duncan's 31-year-old record of 14 set with Wake Forest.
His constant swats under the basket admittedly left Boozer frustrated.
“I don’t know why people keep going in there because he’s going to block your shot,” Virginia guard Mailk Thomas said.
Odom said despite the loss to Duke, a game that slipped away in the final two minutes, he likes the team's chemistry heading into the NCAA Tournament, saying that his players “take up for one another” and they play with a high level of joy.
“I like where our guys are at,” Odom said. “I feel like we can compete with the top teams in the country.”
Perhaps a tournament win is next for the Cavaliers.
“We want to win,” Hall said. “We didn’t just come to take part in the tournament or take part in March Madness. We want to win and compete at the highest level.”
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness