Everything Ryan Odom Said After Virginia’s 72

The Virginia Cavaliers were able to clinch a 72-59 victory over the Syracuse Orange this afternoon. The score remained quite close through much of the game, but the Cavaliers rallied and pulled ahead for the win. Now riding a four-game winning streak, head coach Ryan Odom sat down with the media to share his thoughts on how the matchup unfolded. Here's everything he had to say.

Opening Statement...

"I thought Syracuse played a good game tonight. They had a good plan coming in, kept us off balance offensively with the switching of the presses and then the zone a little bit. I thought they did a nice job overall, and they were very resilient throughout the night. Every time we would stretch it a little bit, they were coming right back. It was a tight game, obviously, and could have gone in either direction. Proud of the way our guys finished it down the stretch there [at the end] of the game. They executed well, we defended well enough, and came up with key rebounds in order to finish the game off. But key to the game for us was just the hustle plays that one little stretch, you know, where Chance steals the in bounds, and we got a little bit of a run. Sam made the three, and we were off and running there. But hard to get to 20. Proud of the guys that they're at 20 wins right now, and a lot of ball to be played going forward, and improving that we've got to do."

On the impact of his bench today...

"Ugo was great, and I thought he did a nice job. Devin always gives us a steady effort. I thought he was good. Jacari was good, made some shots, and was good defensively out there. Chance obviously brings us a different level of energy and poise out there. We got tired a couple of times in the first half and didn't handle it very well. We were walking the ball up the court too much, and just encouraged the guys at halftime to move it up the court. If they score a basket, let's get it out and go, and let's try to get into our offense a little bit quicker. And I thought the guys did a decent job with that. Post actions weren't great until the end for us, and I think that was due to Syracuse's defense. They did a nice job of flexing, you know, on the post on Thijs."

On the key to getting everyone on the same page...

"I think the character that was the first thing, the character of this group, is really strong. Their desire to win and not win for an individual but to win for their teammates and to win for the university, I think that's the key, if you can capture that in a bottle and continue to cultivate it over the course of the season, obviously you have to have success to draw from and certainly you have to be able to learn from your failures as well. But this group has come in every day with a positive attitude, regardless of the circumstances; they've come in with a belief that they belong, and expect to win."

On how UVA's size and strength matched Donnie Freeman...

"He's [Freeman] a really good player. He can make really hard shots. He can make shots off the bounce. He can get all the way to the rim. He gets fouled. He's a really tough matchup. And I thought Thijs and Devin did a nice job. We always talk about when you're guarding a really good player like that, it's not just about the guy that's on them. It's five guys against that guy, and just being in the right position and not giving them anything easy. If you end up giving them some stuff easy, transition, layups, whatever it is, getting to the free throw line, then it becomes really hard because they're going to make good players are going to make hard shots."

On how Thijs De Ridder is handling attention and more traffic, and how UVA is adjusting to that...

"I think he's handled it really well until today. I thought today he was a little bit disjointed. I thought some of them he should have actually shot the ball and gone ahead and gotten it up on the glass there, and he was passing it out a little bit too early before they came and he was anticipating that they were coming and when they weren't and they were just kind of in there and I think you saw at the end of the game when Dallin didn't make the shot, but he moved and relocated when Devin was in the post and then Chance ended up doing it there late in the game. I think it was a really good move by Chance to relocate and get behind Thijs, where now he had an open shot. So we've just got to continue to go in there to him and get him the ball, and we've got to trust that he's going to make the right play."

On how important buckets like Jacari White's shot in the first half are...

"We needed that basket. There's no doubt about it. They were on a major run there and had closed it all the way to a tied game, and we needed a bucket, and that's what winning and losing is: can you get the stop when you need it? Can you get the bucket when you need it? And going into the half, we certainly needed a basket there, and Jacari stepped up."

On being 10-30 today from the three-point range and the pressure that puts on other teams...

"I mean, I'd like to make them, I think that's the first thing. I think we all do. I think it's all about the quality, and what type of shot are we getting? The shot diet, what type of shots are we taking? I thought tonight, the guys did a nice job of that."

On if UVA guarded better in the second half...

"Yeah, no question. They were getting too deep, and they got some in transition, too, which wasn't great for us. They got up the court really fast, and they were to the rim. They're really good in transition, similar to Carolina, but our whole thing with their guards was let's try to not allow them to get quite as close. So those shots are a little bit further away, without allowing them when they do get down there, if they're going really fast. Well, now that's where Ugo and Johann come into play, and we have to veer those at the late."

On the impact Jacari's had...

"He's huge. You know, Jacari, we need him. We told him that a couple of weeks ago, as he was beginning to come back. You know, he's an important player. He was an important player in the preseason and in the non-conference season. If we can really get him playing in a positive way as he did tonight and in the last two games, it's going to be really helpful for our team and our overall depth."

On Chance Mallory's spark...

"He's just a winner. He's just a winner. I mean, he started the initial run with this steal and the in-bounds play, just tipping it and getting it, and then Sam gets the three in the corner. So, he made plays throughout the game and helped this team. He doesn't always have to score to be impactful, and he's just a good player."

On being successful with second chances on offense...

"We just have to keep going. We encourage the guys every game that we go into, each team that we play has a body of work that they and stats that, you know, you try to hone in on. We just do what we do, and these guys get graded on it. They know, and they understand that it can be really impactful for our overall game and offense, in particular. I thought our guys were awesome at it against Pitt, and tonight we were at 30 in the first half. I'm not sure where it ended up, but certainly an important part of our overall attack."

Everything Ryan Odom Said After Virginia’s 72–59 Victory Over Syracuse