The No. 18 Virginia Cavaliers handled their business on Tuesday night, showing few signs of trouble en route to a 67-47 win at home over Pitt on Tuesday night. An early 12-0 run gave the ‘Hoos the lead, and they went unthreatened the rest of the way, moving to 8-2 in the ACC and 19-3 overall.
The three-point shooting struggles that have plagued the Cavaliers of late were not apparent against the Panthers, as UVA drilled 11 threes on the night to cruise to a much-needed comfortable victory. Sam Lewis led all scorers with 15 points, while Thijs De Ridder recorded a 10-point, 12-rebound double-double.
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Below, we dive into the three-point shooting, continued shooting struggles from Jacari White, and much more with five takeaways from Tuesday night’s victory.
Virginia finally got a much-needed comfortable victory
After blowing a 16-point lead against UNC, needing double overtime to beat Notre Dame, and producing an underwhelming seven-point win against Boston College, this was a good showing from Ryan Odom’s group. The Cavaliers took hold of the game with a 12-0 run in the first half and never looked back.
Pitt never truly threatened Virginia in the second half as the Cavaliers drilled seven threes and turned the ball over only twice after halftime, eventually pulling safely ahead to win by 20 points. The Panthers are by no means one of the tougher opponents in the ACC this season, but a comfortable win after some less-than-impressive performances was much-needed, to say the least.
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UVA’s defense was its best offense in the first half
A slow start in the first few minutes gave Pitt an early 7-3 lead. That’s when Virginia’s defense said enough was enough. The Cavaliers went on a 12-0 run, sparked by four consecutive buckets off of Pitt turnovers. Malik Thomas hit a jumper following a Chance Mallory steal. Mallory then scored on a fast break after a steal by Thijs De Ridder. Devin Tillis then drilled a three-pointer after an offensive foul by Pitt. And finally, Sam Lewis hit a three-pointer himself after a Jacari White steal.
Shortly thereafter, a block by Ugonna Onyenso led to a Mallory layup, completing the 12-0 run that gave the ‘Hoos the lead, which they did not relinquish the rest of the night. Virginia took a 33-20 lead into halftime, highlighted by 12 points off turnovers, six steals, and five blocks.
Signs of life for UVA’s three-point shooting
Coming into this game, Virginia ranked fifth in the ACC in three-point percentage on the season at 35.9%. However, in ACC play, the Cavaliers have not been as good. They had made just 31.5% of threes over the first nine games of conference play, ranking them 13th in the ACC.
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The past few games have been particularly worrisome on this front. The Cavaliers combined to shoot 22-of-79 (27.8%) from deep over the past three games, including only 14-of-52 (26.9%) in the past two games. Poor three-point shooting was especially to blame for the Boston College game being remotely close, as the Cavaliers shot a woeful 4-of-23 (17.4%) from three in the seven-point win.
All that said, the Cavaliers bounced back on Tuesday night. As a team, the Cavaliers went 11-of-31 (35.5%) from beyond the arc, hitting 10-plus threes in regulation for the first time since the SMU game on Jan. 17.
The numbers look even better if you take out the 0-for-7 mark produced by Jacari White, who is clearly still not back to full health. (More on that below.) The rest of the Cavaliers shot 11-of-24 from three, or 45.8%. A healthy Jacari White likely hits three or four of his seven attempts, and Virginia’s 20-point victory could have been even more impressive.
Virginia’s variety of scoring options continues to be a strength
Thijs De Ridder has been the clear leading scorer all season, with his 17.0 points per game coming into this game four full points ahead of UVA’s next highest scorer. But on a night when he had his fewest shot attempts (seven) in the last eight games, the Cavaliers got scoring from a number of other guys.
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De Ridder (10 points) was still one of four Cavaliers to score in double figures on the night, but it was Sam Lewis who led the team with 15 points. Mallory added 11 points, while Malik Thomas scored 10. In all, every Cavalier that played on Tuesday night scored except for Jacari White, and seven guys had at least two made field goals.
The ACCN broadcast showed a graphic at one point noting that Virginia ranks second in the conference in bench scoring with 29.5 bench points per game. And, while the bench only managed 19 points in this game, in part due to White’s shooting struggles, the variety of scoring options Virginia has this season was on clear display.
Four of five starters scored at least eight points, while Mallory continued to provide an offensive spark with his 11 points on an efficient 5-for-8 shooting night off the bench.
Jacari White is clearly still not back to 100%
Since injuring and having surgery on his wrist near the end of December, White had played no more than 12 minutes, scored no more than five points, and made no more than one field goal in any of his four appearances. But he produced an encouraging performance on Saturday against Boston College, shooting 3-of-5 from the floor, including 2-for-3 from deep, to score eight points in 17 minutes. It was far and away his best showing since suffering the injury against Maryland on Dec. 20.
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Unfortunately for White and the Cavaliers, he was unable to follow up that performance with another positive one. White was scoreless on the night, going 0-for-8 from the floor, including seven three-point attempts.
He continues to wear a brace on his wrist and still doesn’t have the full range of motion, which appears to be impacting his ability to impact the game, specifically when it comes to shooting. White looks far from the version of himself that hit 12 consecutive three-pointers earlier in the season. If he can return to anything closely resembling his pre-injury self this season, that will be a huge development for Virginia.
