Everything From Head Coach Ryan Odom After Road Victory Over SMU

Virginia is rolling and added another big time victory on the road in a tightly contested game in an ACC battle. The Cavaliers prevailed for a 72-68 victory. Here is all that head coach Ryan Odom had to say.

Opening Statement…

“Yeah, just really impressed uh with SMU, Coach (Andy)Enfield and his staff and team. They're just really great competitors. They got off to a great start against us and we were kind of on our heels there at the beginning of the game and had to get to that first media timeout to try to, you know, begin to whittle it down and and play a little bit more like our ourselves. Over the course of the game, uh our guys settled in played a little bit more freely. The defense picked up a little bit. We made them take a little bit harder shots than uh initially. We kept talking about the quality of our contest throughout the night. It doesn't matter if we can't rebound. I thought our guys, once we began to you know put our arms around that, those two things forcing the hard shots, coming up with the boards, we had a better chance uh to score on the other end. A lot of contributors on both teams. There's no question about it. Conference play is really tough. It can go a lot of different ways and uh we we're very fortunate, you know, to get out of here with a win.”

On playing in a close game down the stretch and how the team played….

“I think just the overall execution. I thought our guys did a nice job. We got to the free throw line. Made our free throws, you know, when we needed to. Got the stops when we needed to. Key rebounds. I think that that's what really what it comes down to. Can you get the stop when you need it? Can you get the bucket when you need it? I thought our guys just did really well with that tonight.”

On the second chance points…

“I mean certainly something that we emphasize every day and have since we first started with this team and and uh it's a part of our DNA. We're going to crash and sometimes it gets us in trouble. The leak out dunk, you know, that when they took the lead was we had four or five guys down under the basket, you know, reaching back to try to steal it and you know, it could get us in trouble on occasion, but I think the uh obviously it's a huge thing for our team.”

On the rebounding effort and aggressiveness…

“I think it's typically which is what we do. You know, the guys just go to the rim and crash and and try to get boards and you know when you're shooting longer shots I think I saw a stat at one point in the season we were number one in the country at getting those rebounds when we miss a three. It's just something that our team has has proven to be pretty strong at. We're really working on the other side to to get a little bit better on that side of of defensive rebounding and so we don't want to be just you know one rebounding side team and I think we're improving in that area certainly.”

On Thijs De Ridder and some of the struggles….

“Yeah, part of the key is just knowing your players. Sometimes when he gets in those moments, you have to take him out of the game. So just so he can take a deep breath, get himself back to neutral, and then go back in there. Uh because, you know, one mistake can become two. He's not alone in that. So Devin filled in great and and did an awesome job throughout this game. Played more like himself, which was really helpful for us.”

On what the team accomplished this week with the road victories…

“I mean, it's huge, you know, to win on the road. Every win on the road is like gold and this particular group understands that if you want to compete at the highest level of the ACC and compete, you know, for a championship, you have to win games on the road. The eventual champion will do that. know we're not playing, you know, a ton of teams twice and you have one shot at a lot, you know, the majority of the teams that you're going to play, whether it's at home or on the road. So you just want to put your best forward best foot forward in each of those opportunities. Then you learn from it. Whether you win or you lose, you go home and figure out, okay, where are the areas, what are the things that we need to tweak a little bit to continue to improve ,because that's the most important thing. We've got to get better over the course of the season.”

On he defensive game plan and slowing down SMU and its best players….

“I mean he it all starts with him. I mean he's just a dynamite competitor, you know, really tough to prepare for. He makes shots you know outside the lane that are really special because he's so fast and he can he dribbles under the basket. He made one today and that's that's his staple. He's always doing that. He dribbles under the basket and gets back outside and then he turns around and shoots it before you can get back to him. We just encouraged our guys number one not to foul him. That's the that's the key. You have to keep him off the free throw line. I thought our guys for the most part, you know, did a solid job with that and get help to them. Our bigger guys are are tough around the basket. We were certainly worried about, you know, the center inside and he certainly got us on a number of occasions sealing in there, but we were able to force just enough misses, you know, to escape. >> Okay, Jeff. Don was one of the guys covers today assist.

On Dallin Hall….

“Dallin is just the ultimate competitor. He's a tremendous leader. I encouraged him. I think he was 0 for four or 0 for five, you know, in the I was like, "Hey, keep shooting, dude. You're going to be fine." He ended up not being fine in this particular game, but he will be fine. He understands like he does so many other things, you know, for our team. He in a lot of ways he's the foundation, you know, especially in a first year. There's not a better player to have on your side when you're first coming in. And I'm really proud of what he's able to do, what he's done, you know, for our program, you know, so far at Virginia.

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