Everything From Ryan Odom After Virginia’s Tight Victory Over Miami

The Virginia Cavaliers were able to extend their winning streak to eight games after clinching an 86-83 victory over the Miami Hurricanes, but this was far from a flawless matchup. The Cavaliers struggled to take a lead, and head coach Ryan Odom's frustrations became apparent. Once the game wrapped up, Odom sat down with the media to discuss how the game unfolded. Here's everything he had to say.

Opening Statement...

"Obviously, a great evening, or afternoon, in honor of Coach Bennett. It was so cool. I was honored to be on the court with him in that moment. I don't think either of us, we talked about it yesterday morning on the phone, like neither one of us could have ever predicted that we would be standing there together. We knew he would be getting his name on the court at some point, but not me standing there with him, and he's been so supportive of the guys and me personally.

Like I said out there, he's what college basketball is all about from a coaching perspective. He was about all the right things. He proved that you could win at the ultimate level, the highest level, and do it with dignity and class and integrity, and a ferociousness from a competitive standpoint.

His teams were well balanced and knew who they were and knew what they needed to do to win, and it was a testament to him, and just his ability to connect with people, mentor people, and he and Laurel have meant so much to this community, Eli and Anna, as well. It's a really cool moment for the Bennett. There's no question about it. And I was happy that our team was able to be out there with the guys. He actually called me to encourage me not to do that, just to focus on the game in classic TB form.

But I said, "No, this is when we first came here, we talked about the legacy, and when we read that book over the summer, it was all about leaving the jersey in a better place and connecting these guys to this basketball program, most importantly, this university." They certainly have done that, our guys, and I wanted them to witness that part of the history of our program, and for them to see it and be there with all the fans and see just the general appreciation that everybody in the building has for the Bennett family."

On Chance Mallory's lack of hesitation with the ball...

"Yeah, definitely his court sense. I mean, that’s point guard, right? When a game's on the line like that, you want to get it up as quickly as you can. It's certainly something that we've worked on, but and give us a chance to call a timeout if we need it. And so, really, it's up to me at that point. I like to let our guys go, and you could sense that. Jacari's shot was amazing, but when he gets in that zone, he's made several in that situation, [and] as a coach, you have to trust and certainly in that moment we did. Chance advanced it as fast as he could and created something really positive there. Obviously, he made the free throws, which was a huge thing. A lot of pressure there."

On playing without Devin Tillis and the tough late-game situation...

"Yeah, I thought our guys did their best. We wanted to get more stops, certainly. We wanted to rebound better. I think it was our first time losing that battle since the Virginia Tech game. Not really who we are, but Thijs was a warrior today. He played 36. You know, he hadn't done that certainly all year, and except for maybe that overtime game or the triple overtime game.

I don't know how many minutes he played in that one, but Tillis is an important player for us. I mean, there's no question about it. He comes in, he spells guys, he's a really good leader, but I thought all the guys stepped up. You know, they did a really nice job. We thought about playing the two bigs together, and we practiced that a little bit going into the game, but that didn't come to fruition, and we felt good about where we were. The key for us was in the second half, digging in more. They are a very well-coached team; they are an attacking and downhill team.

They offensive rebound as we do, and they get to the free throw line, and it was just a matter of whether we were going to be able to stand up to that in the second half, and so we challenged them at halftime to be more physical on the drives and keep them further away from the basket. Clearly, we were still doubling, and that put us in some rotations, and you can give up some offensive rebounds when you are doubling the post. But it was a necessity for us to do that, but these guys, our guys, just continue to find ways to finish games, and certainly we were fortunate tonight. Miami is a really good team. They've won 21 games or whatever it is, just like our team. They've found ways to be successful."

On Tony Bennett...

"So, I prayed for snow to the most epic snowstorm in Charlottesville to happen so I would have more time to figure that out. No, it was ready for that night, too, in all seriousness, but I just began to think, you know... TB probably has plenty of national championship photos or photos of him winning a championship and holding a net, hugging his players, all the sports things that happen. He and I share a very common bond. We were both raised in a coaching family, and the sacrifice that Lynn Odom all right made that my brother certainly made, that I made for my father to be able to be away coaching, and it's obviously the same in the Bennett family, and they have multiple coaches in their family that sitting around the dinner table, that's all you talk about, right?

When's the next game? So we certainly share that bond, and then now we share the coaching bond. Now our fathers have to watch us do it and go crazy. I can't imagine what my dad was doing out there in that game today with all the twists and turns, and we're very blessed to have been raised in a basketball family. The ball has done tremendous things for our families, and I wanted to do some, but at its core, it comes down to it was a coach and his son, and then it was a coach and his father in that photo, and obviously, we're all more than that, but I wanted him to have that. Hopefully, he gives it to his dad, and his dad can appreciate that, and his mom, I know his mom will appreciate that because that was a moment that they shared together, and hopefully they'll appreciate it."

On Thijs De Ridder's defense today...

"Yeah, I mean, he's getting better. Like he's getting better at it. When we were tight with our switches, all right, they had a harder time getting inside our defense. When we had the miscommunications, all of a sudden, you saw an edge, and then we weren't quite ready, or early enough to help on the baseline there. It's just something that we've got to improve upon. They're really good. Like they get to the basket and they're a very physical team, and you have to stop them before they get to the paint if you're going to have a chance. And when we did, we were pretty successful. When we didn't, they made us pay."

On Johann Grünloh's improvements on defense...

"Yeah, I mean Johann was tremendous. I thought it was one of his better games, if not the best game of his career, his early career so far. [I’m] really proud of him. Talked to the team about that in the locker room just a second ago, and he blocked so many shots around the rim, several were one, was a foul unfortunately, but he's just a really good player, and it's great to see him kind of coming out of that. He had a couple of games where he wasn't at his best, and that's how seasons go. But he's a determined player and a confident player, and I thought he did a nice job tonight."

On if he knows when Jacari White is getting into his zone...

"Yeah, a lot of it's just when that ball's going in the basket, he fires that first one, and he sees one going, and then his feet start popping, and he's moving to find shots, and there's just an energy, there's a confidence with him, and I certainly can relate to that. I love to shoot the ball, too. But he's a special player."

On defending Malik Reneau...

"They're really tough, really tough to deal with, and they're even better in person than when you watch them on film. They have big bodies, and so you have to deal with that, and I think our guys, for the most part, stood up strong. We took that lead in the second half, took the lead in the first half after being down 11. And so there was just a resiliency that our guys played with when we weren't particularly playing our best. Didn't end the half great, but came out of halftime and reestablished some positive play. But, youknow, I thought our guys did a nice job doubling him sometimes on the bounce, sometimes on the catch. The key is that he looks for his partner underneath the basket, and he's a really big human being near the rim. And so, it's a lot for our guards to get down in there and deal with that. But the key was we didn't want him to go one-on-one and put fouls on Thijs, given the circumstances with or any of our guys, given the circumstances with Tillis being out."