Basketball Preview: No. 10 Virginia at Ohio State

By Tim Shoemaker on December 1, 2015 at 8:35 am
Kam Williams, Daniel Giddens and Marc Loving walk off the floor.
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Ohio State is in a bit of unfamiliar territory. The Buckeyes have lost three-straight games for the first time since the 2013-14 season. 

And if Ohio State wants to stop that streak, it's going to have its hands full as it welcomes No. 10 Virginia to the Schottenstein Center on Tuesday night as part of the annual ACC-Big Ten Challenge. The Cavaliers, despite an early-season loss, are again among one of the top teams in both the Atlantic Coast Conference and the country.

WHO WHERE WHEN TV
Virginia (5-1) Schottenstein Center 7:30 p.m. ESPN

Ohio State is coming off an 81-76 overtime loss to Memphis on Friday in the Hoophall Miami Invitational. That defeat came after back-to-back home losses against mid-major programs Louisiana Tech and Texas-Arlington. 

The matchup with Virginia presents this young Buckeyes team a huge opportunity to get some confidence back after three-straight losses in the first month of the season. If Ohio State doesn't figure out a way to pull the upset, though, it will fall to 2-4 on the year with non-conference games against UConn and No. 1 Kentucky still on the schedule. Then, of course, comes Big Ten play. 

Opponent Breakdown

Under head coach Tony Bennett, Virginia is annually one of the top defensive teams in the country, and this season is no different. The Cavaliers currently rank 10th in the country in scoring defense, surrendering just 58.3 points per game.

Ohio State head coach Thad Matta knows what type of challenge Virginia presents.

“Watching Virginia, they’re as good of a basketball team as I’ve seen this year," Matta said Monday. "It is definitely a veteran basketball team that is going to be a great challenge for us because they won’t come in and beat themselves. Our thing is [Sunday] and [Monday], we’ve got to get ourselves ready to be as sound as we possibly can to have a chance to win.”

The Cavaliers were upset in their second game of the season, falling 73-68 at George Washington. Since that loss, however, Virginia has rattled off four-straight wins to enter Tuesday's game at 5-1 on the year. 

The Cavaliers have a veteran group, led by senior guard Malcolm Brogdon and senior forward Anthony Gill. Brogdon is the team's leading scorer at 16.7 points per game, while Gill is second on the team in scoring with 12.5 points per game. Junior point guard London Perrantes is steady running the show, scoring 10.0 points per game to go along with 5.3 assists.

The Cavaliers rank third in KenPom's advanced basketball ratings and are 11th in adjusted defensive efficiency, allowing 92 points per 100 possessions. 

“Great defensive team," Ohio State sophomore forward Jae'Sean Tate said of Virginia. "They run a lot of offense through their post so post defense will be really key. We’ve just got to execute and take care of the ball.”

Buckeye Breakdown

Though it was their third-straight loss, the Buckeyes looked a bit better in the game against Memphis than they did in their previous two. For the first time in this three-game stretch, there was the thought Ohio State had control of the game and it had a chance to win.

The Buckeyes didn't finish the job, of course, falling in overtime to the Tigers, but Matta said he felt his team actually played better than it had been.

"I think from the standpoint of, part of me is thinking because we are playing better basketball," Matta said. "The things that we asked the other night going into that game we did a pretty good job of it, but by a couple weeks from now, we’ve got to get a couple things that we can really hang our hat on."

Against the Tigers, JaQuan Lyle led the way with 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting with eight assists, while Marc Loving added 17 points and seven rebounds. But the Buckeyes committed 19 turnovers and made just 11-of-19 attempts from the free-throw line.

Matta, Tate and sophomore wing Keita Bates-Diop all signaled out those two areas as the spots Ohio State needs the most improvement during their meeting with the media Monday. The Buckeyes are shooting a brutal 58.6 percent at the free-throw line as a team — ranked 334th in the country — and are committing turnovers at an alarming rate, 16.2 per game (323rd nationally).

“I think for us, taking care of the basketball and free-throw shooting," Matta said. "We’ve got to get guys who aren’t shooting a high percentage to make some more free throws. I think overall for us just the continuing to learn the concepts of the defense from game to game that we’re trying to put in." 

Added Tate: "The energy was there, the effort was there, we just got to continue to try to play smarter."

How It Plays Out

Ohio State has its hands full with Virginia, no doubt about it. The Cavaliers are the better team and are again contenders to win the always-competitive ACC. The Buckeyes will need to play their best game of the year to even have a shot.

With the style Virginia plays — grind-it-out defense, methodical offense — it leaves it prone to play in some close games. Matta did say the Cavaliers have played a bit differently on offense this season, but expect Tuesday's game to be played at a bit slower of a pace. That could play into Ohio State's hands.

Virginia should win this game, though, because it does have the better, more veteran team. The Buckeyes will keep it close, but in the end, the Cavaliers will be too much for this inexperienced Ohio State team.


Tim's prediction: Virginia 75, Ohio State 66

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