As dress rehearsals go, the new UVA Basketball coach, Ryan Odom, couldn’t have asked for more.
Odom and the new coach at Villanova, Kevin Willard, played their final exhibition of the 2025 preseason like one that counted – Willard used two of his starters for 35 minutes, a third for 34, while Odom got double-digits for 10 of his guys, as he will do, with his up-tempo approach.
Virginia led for all but 20 seconds, but ’Nova made it interesting late, cutting a 10-point deficit with 1:31 to go down to three in the final 10 seconds, then, after a UVA turnover in the backcourt, getting a shot at the rim from three that could have sent the game to OT.
That shot, a contested three from guard Acaden Lewis with four seconds left, was short, only barely grazing the rim, allowing Virginia to escape with the 75-72 win.
ICYMI
As advertised, the game was nothing like UVA Basketball fans had become accustomed to in 16 years of Tony Bennett “Embrace the Pace.”
Starting with the 17 fast-break points – the last team of the Bennett era, actually coached by his long-time top assistant, Ron Sanchez, after Bennett stepped down two weeks before the opening game, citing burnout – averaged 4.1 fast-break points per game.
Odom, hired after a two-year run at VCU, which he led to an NCAA Tournament appearance last season, has a nearly entirely new roster, with only Elijah Gertrude, who redshirted last season after suffering on off-the-court injury in the spring of 2024, and Carter Lang, who redshirted last year after transferring in from a year at Vanderbilt, as returning players.
This was just the second game against an outside opponent for this group, and the first in front of the home crowd at the John Paul Jones Arena, which had a nice turnout, reported in the box score at 13,751, less than a thousand off the official capacity.
Virginia led by as many as nine in the first half before going into the break up 40-35, and built double-digit leads on three different occasions in the second half.
The game, which as I mentioned, played like one that counted, got intense in the final 20 minutes.
Virginia, 20-of-35 from the field through the first 25 minutes, missed 14 of its last 18 shots from the field; ‘Nova was 9-of-27 from the floor in the final 15.
That’s why this one was good for Odom – for both coaches, clearly.
Malik Thomas, the San Francisco transfer, had 16 points (5-of-10 FG, 3-of-4 3FG) in 29 minutes to lead Virginia, which shot 45.3 percent for the game, made 10 threes (on 26 attempts) and was 17-of-19 at the line.
Johann Grunloh, a freshman from Germany, had 12 points and eight rebounds in 25 minutes.
Belgian import Thijs de Ridder had eight points and eight boards for Virginia, which had 11 guys score.
There are issues that need correcting, starting with: turnovers. Virginia had 18 of them on 67 possessions, for a 26.9 percent rate, which is entirely too high.
The offensive rebound percentage (11-of-29, 37.9 percent) is good, could and needs to be better.
Defensive rebounding also needs to be better: 66.7 percent (28-of-42) is fine, but only fine.
Interior defense also needs to be better: ‘Nova was 15-of-24 on shots at the rim, which is a lot of makes at the rim.
I’m making it sound like a defeat, which it was not.
This Villanova program, with its own splash hire for a new head coach, comes into the season with expectations, just as Virginia does with Odom.
Virginia controlled the game, got some game pressure in the final minutes, and came away with the win.
Good way to start.
Just wish it counted.
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Chris Graham
