Cavaliers Now

The Plus/Minus: Defense Carries Virginia Basketball Past Stanford

Stout defense was the order of the day as the Virginia Cavaliers knocked off the Stanford Cardinal 70 – 55.
Val Prochaska|
Dallin Hall defends Ebuka Okorie
Dallin Hall defends Ebuka Okorie | Virginia Athletics

Plus

A win is a win is a win, and this one was pretty comfortable.  Virginia went ahead 8 – 7 four minutes in and, weathered a brief Stanford rally, and cruised for the win.  This game was never in doubt.  70 points was Virginia’s lowest point total of the season, and yet the Hoos still won by 15.

Plus

Stanford’s Ebuka Okorie came to the JPJ as one of the hottest players in the ACC, nay the nation.  He led Stanford on a 12-points-in-two-minutes comeback versus Virginia Tech where he scored or assisted on 40 of Stanford’s final 42 points.  For the season, he’s leading the ACC in scoring and is #8 in the country. 

Well, he was before today.  Virginia locked him down, holding him scoreless in the second frame en route to just 14 points.  He was 5/20 from the floor and 0/6 from deep as I counted just three clear looks for him all game.  Dallin Hall, Chance Mallory and Malik Thomas hounded him all game long.

Plus

Virginia forced six shot-clock violations.  Six!  I spent about 10 minutes searching, but I don’t know that Tony Bennett’s PackLine ever forced six in one game.  The defense was dialed in all game, and the guys weren’t particularly handsy, committing just 16 personal fouls.

Minus

Since the turn of the New Year, or the beginning of ACC play, the Cavaliers have not shot the long ball particularly well.  Over the past four games, Virginia is converting at just a 29% clip (38/129.)  Presumably Virginia will shoot better once Jacari White returns (and he’s due to start practicing this week,) but Virginia is inching to the bottom of the ACC four games in.

Plus

And yet Virginia won by 15.

Minus

Virginia struggled with Stanford’s zone for much of the game.  If the threes aren’t falling, and Ugonna Onyenso and Johan Grunloh don’t have much of a post-up game, scoring will be a struggle.  Ball movement also suffered, especially when the ball was in Mallory’s hands.  Mallory was always the best player on the court in high school, so he could pound the ball until he could force an opening.  It’s the one weakness in his game at the collegiate level, and it will come in time.  But for now, zone is an effective change of pace that can stymie Virginia.

Plus

Onyenso had five blocks.  In just 20 minutes.  As I am writing this, he’s now fifth in the nation in blocked shots with 41.  In 17 minutes per game.  Unreal.

Plus

Thijs De Ridder led the way with an ultra-efficient 22 points:  8/11 from the field, 1/2 from deep and, happily, 5/5 from the free throw line.  By now, the entire ACC knows that De Ridder can drive to the rim from beyond the arc, but he starts at the scorer’s table here.

Plus

Malik Thomas had another fine game, though his stats won’t jump out at you.  He did shoot 5/15 and 0/5 from deep, but on at least four occasions, the ball was dumped to him with two seconds on the shot clock and he was forced to take really bad shots.  Thomas had a game-high seven rebounds and he stuffed Okorie every time he drew the match-up.  Thomas elevating his game during ACC play has been the best story of 2026.

Plus

For a middling, at best, free throw shooting team, Virginia had a fine game from the line, converting 14/17.  Interestingly, those were the exact same numbers as Stanford, one of the best in that regard in the ACC.  So nullifying an opponent’s strength like that is how you get 15-point cakewalks.

Plus

It seems like Ryan Odom must have spent some time with women’s soccer coach Steve Swanson.  All season long the women’s soccer team came roaring out of halftime, often playing their most inspired ball the first 10 minutes or so.  In all three games since the Virginia Tech loss, Virginia has “won” the first 10 minutes of the second half.  On this day, the Hoos opened up the half with a 19 – 5 run where they forced the Cardinal to shoot 1/17.  It was game over at that point.

Next Up:  Virginia travels to Louisville for a game on Tuesday, January 13th.  Gametime is 7:00pm and the game will be on ESPN2.

Published
Val Prochaska
VAL PROCHASKA

Val graduated from the University of Virginia in the last millennium, back when writing one's senior thesis by hand was still a thing. He is a lifelong fan of the ACC, having chosen the Tobacco Road conference ahead of the Big East. Again, when that was still a thing. Val has covered Virginia men's basketball for nine years, first with HoosPlace and then with StreakingTheLawn, before joining us here at Virginia Cavaliers on SI in August of 2023, continuing to cover UVA men's basketball and also writing about women's soccer and women's basketball.

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