Everything From Ryan Odom After Virginia's ACC Championship Loss To Duke

The Virginia Cavaliers battled No. 1 Duke to the very end, but they could not make enough winning plays in the end and for the second time this season, they lost to the Blue Devils.

After the game, Hoos head coach Ryan Odom spoke with the media and here is everything that he had to say:

Opening Statement

"Really proud of the guys today in a big-time environment, to be able to play for a championship was really special. These guys chose Virginia for all the right reasons and wanted an opportunity to make the most of their time here with us.

What they've done is remarkable. The five seniors that made that choice, that had one year to play, have led the charge. These two right here, obviously the other three, they've been there every day.

Tried to learn as much as they could about UVA and do their best for the school, but more importantly do their best for one another.

I think anytime you see our team play out there, we're by no means perfect, but they just take up for one another. They really do. Whether they're down in games or have big leads, there's an excitement and a joy that these guys play with. And certainly as their coach and our coaching staff, that really makes us really proud.

Ugo was a beast today. He was absolutely incredible. He shattered a record, ironically, by Tim Duncan. Did you know that?

We had 14 in three games, you had 21. That's pretty impressive, and one of the best shot blockers ever, and you were doing it against big time players in our conference.

Just really impressed with that.

Happy for you in particular.

Dallin has just led this team with all his heart every single day. In big moments, he says the right thing. In big moments, he's not afraid to make the play, whether it's on defense or offense.

I know this program is better for him having made the choice to come here.

As it relates to the game, our guys stood tall. We obviously didn't win. Duke made the plays that they needed to make down the stretch to finish it out. I thought we had a good opportunity there when it was tied, but it just didn't go our way today.

We certainly are excited about what's to come. We're very disappointed right now, but looking forward to what's next."

1. On if UVA was able to find another gear...

" Yeah, no question. The balance of stellar defense and timely offense, I thought the guys did a nice job overall. This is a tough tournament. It's hard to play three days in a row and play really well three days in a row.

I think both teams weren't at necessarily their best, but they were competing against one another at a really high level. That's hard to do. Especially they're down a couple of guys and they're tough to play against anyway.

I thought Cayden did an awesome job. He was tremendous in the game.

Proud of our guys and excited for what's next."

2. On the challenges of guarding Cam Boozer...

"It's brutal. Yeah. He's just a special player. He has the ability to beat you in a multitude of ways, whether it's driving against a bigger guy, using his physicality as he gets closer to the rim, banging the shot from behind the arc, getting to the free-throw line or making the pass. He made several key passes where they got lay-ups that were key to the game.

When they play him at the 5, it's a totally different look. He really didn't do that. We didn't face that as much in Cameron Indoor. We knew we were going to face it a lot more given the circumstances tonight, and both are equally difficult to deal with.

Obviously Ugo is a tremendous talent."

3. On playing two physical teams in back to back days...

"I thought the guys did a great job in preparation. It's a lot of film. We probably do way too much film. They sit there and sometimes I'm like, oh, we've got to end this.

I thought they did a great job. We have the best trainer and strength coach in the country, and we have managers and GAs, and it's all hands on deck to get the team ready. The coaching staff is working countless hours.

I thought our guys did a nice job. They had the energy they needed. We're a deep team. We subbed in and out. I thought they had the energy they needed to be able to come out with a win, it just didn't happen."

4. On elevating against a team like Duke...

"Yeah, I think our guys shoot the ball pretty well. We didn't shoot it great tonight. We had some open looks that didn't go down. Ultimately when you get in the tournament, you've got to make shots.

The defense has got to be tight. You've got to put pressure on the offense. But I do like where our guys are at. I feel like we can compete with the top teams in the country."

5. On what they learned from the first game vs Duke...

" We didn't read too much into that game, honestly. I thought our guys did an admirable job for the first time going in there. We were in it for a little bit at the beginning. We just tried to take bits and pieces from that game where we did some positive things. And then we showed them, okay, had you done this a little bit better -- he mentioned it. At the end of drives, we were jumpy. Our guys were off their feet.

Well, Boozer is going to make you pay when you're off your feet like that. He's going to get fouled, he's going to get to the line. You just hope it's not an and-1. We talked a lot about being determined in this game and being disciplined in this game.

We did for probably 30-some minutes of the game, but we had some undisciplined plays at times that probably bit us."

6. On Duke's offensive rebounding...

"Yeah, I think it is unique to when Boozer is at the 5, it gets a little bit harder because there's so much attention there. Our big is away from the basket, and it's not guards running in there trying to shoot over Ugo. It's a totally different animal, which we haven't really seen a lot.

I thought our guys did a really good job. Had we come up with some of those maybe the game with a little bit different story, but we didn't, and we've just got to be better in that regard."