The ACC Tourney Plus/Minus Part II: Virginia Basketball Coasts by Miami

Plus

A win is a win is a win. Somehow Jai Lucas finished above Ryan Odom in the coach of the year voting, but the team had their coach’s back on this night. Virginia curb-stomped Miami in a game that was close only as long as Virginia missed their threes. (The Cavaliers started out 0/9 from deep before Thijs De Ridder sunk Virginia’s first three at the 2:47 mark.)

Minus

Virginia had another sluggish start. As referenced, it took ten tries to sink their first three. Through 13 minutes, Virginia had almost as many turnovers, six, as made buckets, seven. Johan Grunloh, who had been listed as a game-time decision, picked up two quick fouls. It took Virginia five and half minutes to get to six points, thereby breaking the dreaded point-a-minute barrier.

Plus

Miami wasn’t much better. Where Virginia started out 0/7 from deep, Miami was 0/6. Tre Donaldson sat much of the half with two fouls. Malik Reneau looked like a shell of himself. After 13 minutes, the score was tied at 15 apiece. IOW, neither team was covering themselves in glory.

Virginia blew the game out very quickly, closing on a 23 – 6 run that left the Miami coaching staff alternately looking bewildered or yelling at their players. Ugonna Onyenso hit back-to-back buckets, Chance Mallory canned four consecutive free throws, De Ridder and Malik Thomas both hit threes.

Oh, and there was this:

🚨 MALLORY GETS THE STEAL AND BEATS THE BUZZER 🚨

📺 ESPN2 x @UVAMensHoops pic.twitter.com/l9688QpqSY
— ACC Men's Basketball (@accmbb) March 13, 2026

Plus

It’s now been four games since Duke throttled the Cavaliers. Virginia got back on the winning track by spreading the wealth. In all four games, including this one, Virginia has had four or five players score in double figures. Today the team was paced by Onyenso (a game-high 17 points,) along with De Ridder (16,) Lewis (16,) Thomas (15,) and Mallory (12.) Interesting to maybe only me, but Onyenso scored Virginia’s sixth and eighth points, and from them on, he was the team’s leading scorer the rest of the way.

Plus

Chance Mallory had a Chance Mallory game: 12 points on a 6/6 night at the line, a game high six assists (or as many as Miami had as a team,) and five rebounds, or as many as 7-footer Onyenso snagged in four more minutes of playing.

Oh, what the heck, let’s look at that buzzer-beating three again:

WOAH CHANCE 🤯

📺 ESPN2#GoHoos pic.twitter.com/r58hTbgrN2
— Virginia Men's Basketball (@UVAMensHoops) March 13, 2026

Mallory was at full stride; he could have made it to the rim before the horn sounded. That was a simply audacious three.

Plus

Let’s go back to Miami’s six-assist night. Virginia won this game with defense and it was a team effort. Six assists on 22 made baskets is awful, but every Virginia player stayed in front of their man, denied the passing lanes and Onyenso was in the paint to alter every Miami shot. Miami came in ranked #11 in the country shooting at a 50.4% clip from the floor. Today they only cracked 35% from the floor because the Hurricanes went 3/3 in garbage time. There were very few open shots for Miami and most of their buckets came on 1 v 1 and 1 v 2 drives. That’s a losing formula.

Plus

Although the game was effectively over with Mallory’s three, there were still 20 minutes to play. Seven minutes into the second half, Miami went on a mini run with a couple of threes, a nice drive to the rim and an offensive rebound and finish. The score had dwindled from a 50 – 32 Virginia lead down to 53 – 43 and Miami had a spark of life. I noted that Virginia needed a timeout but Odom let his team play on. Malik Thomas responded by scoring nine of Virginia’s next eleven points. Order was restored and Virginia was never threatened again.

Best records among major conference teams since 1/26:

Florida: 12-0
Duke: 12-1
Michigan: 12-1
Virginia: 12-1
— Danny Neckel (@DNeckel19) March 13, 2026

Plus

Despite the aforementioned Thomas heroics, the defense, Onyeno’s presence in the paint, the depth of the Bench Mob, what have you, this is a three-point shooting team. Virginia was in a back and forth game with Miami when the threes weren’t falling. Once Mallory and De Ridder got the three-ball juices flowing, Virginia blew Miami off the hardwood. Going 10/16 from deep will do that for you. As long as the threes are falling, this could be a Final Four team.

And Virginia doesn't have to shoot lights out to win, they just can't suck. Virginia is 24 - 0 when converting at a 30% clip, and 4 - 4 when it's less than that. 30%. That's all it has to be.

Next Up: On to the Championship game, Saturday, March 14th (otherwise known as Pi Day) at 8:30pm. The game will be on ESPN.