A Look at #1 Seed Virginia (30-3)

[SoonerTraveler]

The following was the starting lineup in Virginia's first round win over Gardner-Webb. Virginia started a 4-Guard lineup, although De'Andre Hunter is a 6'7" guard. Mamadi Diakite did not start, but has started 17 games this season. While Jack Salt started, he only played 5 minutes against Gardner-Webb.

PPG .. Starters
15.4 .. Kyle Guy (Junior; G; 6-2; 175) .. Shoots .457 from 3-point range
15.4 .. De'Andre Hunter (R-Soph; G; 6-7; 225) .. A .448 3-point shooter
13.0 .. Ty Jerome (Junior; G; 6-5; 195) .. Shoots .395 from 3-point range
_4.2 .. Kihei Clark (Freshman; G; 5-9; 155)
_1.7 .. Jack Salt (R-Senior; C; 6-10; 250)


PPG .. Top Reserves
7.2 .. Mamadi Diakite (R-Junior; F; 6-9; 228)
6.0 .. Braxton Key (Junior; G; 6-8; 225)
4.8 .. Jay Huff (R-Soph; F; 7-1; 232)

Four of the top eight players have red-shirted during their college playing career. Like Oklahoma, only one freshman really contributes.

As a team, Virginia shoots .405 from 3-point range.

De'Andre Hunter (R-Soph; G; 6-7; 225) gets to the Free Throw line a lot, as he is 112-142 (.789) from the charity stripe.

The 5'9" freshman (Kihei Clark) was rated as a 3-star recruit (#393 recruit) in the 2018 247Sports Recruiting Composite rankings. At 26 minutes per game, he plays the 4th most minutes of any Virginia player. He played 36 minutes against Gardner-Webb.

Short Roster: In the game against Gardner-Webb, all four of the starting guards played 36 minutes or more. Mamadi Diakite (R-Junior; F; 6-9; 228) played 27 minutes off the bench.

 

[oudna]

Yeah, it’s a rough match-up for us.

 

[mict085]

Ole miss was a great matchup for OU.

Virginia? Not so much. Going to be very tough. Expect an ugly game either way.

 

[oudna]

Their strengths are ours, except they are way better in every facet.

Shock the world

 

[lexusooner]

Defense will be the key, they have several players who can flat out shoot the 3 at a high percentage. We need to be in their grills all game long.

 

[TINY]

They will probably put it on us but they are the most vulnerable of the 1 seeds imo.

 

[coolm]

anything other than OU getting smacked around will be a surprise to me. I'd love to be wrong.

 

[opsooner]

I suspect it will be much more like playing most Big 12 teams. We won’t have an advantage in the paint and our outside shots will be better defended than Fri. Will need to shoot the lights out again to have any chance.

Good news is we have nothing to really lose so we should hopefully be loose again. I am hoping we really like that arena and shoot it well again.


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[Eielson]

Why is Ole Miss a good matchup while UVA is a bad matchup? Other than, of course, the huge talent gap that comes between being a 1 vs an 8 seed.

 

[oudna]

Why is Ole Miss a good matchup while UVA is a bad matchup? Other than, of course, the huge talent gap that comes between being a 1 vs an 8 seed.

Ole Miss had small guards and unathletic bigs

Our length advantage outside and quickness advantage inside was evident and exploited

 

[WTSooner]

Ole Miss had small guards and unathletic bigs

Our length advantage outside and quickness advantage inside was evident and exploited

This.

Ole Miss also turned the ball over a lot, didn't rebound well, and was not a good defensive team this year. All things that play into what OU needs to win.

 

[soonerbms]

They have three guys who shoot 40% from distance? **** me.

 

[MichaelM]

This is a winnable game if Virginia is ice cold or if OU is red hot. No other way that I can see.

 

[stormspencer]

UVA is basically K-State on steroids. But as I've watched them over the past several years, they are beatable. Typically, you either need to "out-talent" them or have very quick guards who can shoot and make plays by penetrating.

If I had to say one weakness of theirs that is fairly apparent is that they aren't really fast or quick (not overly athletic). They beat you by positioning and passing. They are disciplined and typically don't beat themselves with careless mistakes or bad decisions. They play at a very slow pace which means that they aren't likely going to score 80 and blow you out. However, the flip side is that once they get a lead, it is more difficult to come from behind against a team of their caliber.

So, we need to hit shots, rebound and not turn the ball over.....sounds easy enough right?

 

[Eielson]

Ole Miss had small guards and unathletic bigs

Our length advantage outside and quickness advantage inside was evident and exploited

I suppose that makes sense. I've just heard several people on here state that we can't match up with their size, when in reality, our lineup is just as big or bigger. I don't expect to see much of Salt. They're certainly better and more athletic, though.

Ultimately, I don't think it's a bad matchup. I think the issue is that they're just much better, which is the case for all of the top seeds. Duke and Gonzaga seems like more of a nightmare from a matchup standpoint. I suppose this is more a semantics game, though.

 

[WichitaSooner]

I think Virginia is the best team in America, with Duke the possible/likely exception. They have a top five defense and a top five offense, which almost never happens. They have a lottery pick and at least one more pro. The only reason I think so many people consider them vulnerable is because of previous seasons. They have never had an offense like this, or as much talent. Great team.

 

[Eielson]

This is a winnable game if Virginia is ice cold or if OU is red hot. No other way that I can see.

I would agree with this. I just couldn't see us beating Duke or Gonzaga under any circumstances. We have a fighting chance against UVA.

 

[Eielson]

I think many are overlooking how good Hachimura and Clarke are. I can't recall ever seeing a team where their two leading scorers both shot over 60% from the field. Even Kaminsky and Dekker didn't do that, though they were pretty close.

 

[oudna]

I think many are overlooking how good Hachimura and Clarke are. I can't recall ever seeing a team where their two leading scorers both shot over 60% from the field. Even Kaminsky and Dekker didn't do that, though they were pretty close.

Do you live in WI?

 

[Eielson]

Do you live in WI?

Nope.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/boxscores/2015-04-04-kentucky.html