Previewing UVA basketball’s NCAA Tournament first round opponent: Wright State
Virginia is sadly all too accustomed to double-digit seed Cinderellas. The ghosts of UMBC, Ohio, and Furman nonetheless hang-out the minds of the Cavalier devoted to this present day. So, it’s honest to strategy UVA’s first-round opponent with warning and take an actual take a look at what Wright State brings into this matchup.
The No. 14 seed Raiders received the Horizon League event by erasing a 12-point deficit to beat Detroit Mercy 66-63 within the title sport. That got here after they put up 105 factors within the semifinals. Wright State enters Friday at 11-23 total and 15-5 in league play, having received eight of its final 10 and 18 of its final 22.
The Raiders can rating. Wright State averages 80.5 factors per sport and shoots 48.9 % from the sphere. Michael Cooper leads them at 13.3 factors per sport. TJ Burch provides 11.8 factors and three.5 assists. Solomon Callaghan shoots 39.8 % from three, and Dominic Pangonis is at 38.2 % from deep. If the sport will get free, Wright State has sufficient backcourt scoring and taking pictures to make Virginia uncomfortable.
But Wright State will not be the standard upset-minded mid-major that lives virtually completely on the three-point line. The Raiders shoot 36.1% (forty ninth) from deep and 54.5% (74th) from two, but solely a few third of their makes an attempt come from past the arc. This will not be a staff attempting to bomb its means right into a miracle. Wright State performs a extra bodily model of basketball.
Wright State can actually rating the basketball, however wanting into how they’re constructed tells a extra full story. Their primary inside items are 6-foot-7 senior Michael Imariagbe and 6-foot-9 freshman Kellen Pickett. Imariagbe averages 11.9 factors and 6.9 rebounds whereas taking pictures 58.4 % from the ground. Pickett provides 8.3 factors, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per sport.
That is what makes this a unique type of Cinderella candidate. As a staff, Wright State has a 7.5 % block charge, thirty ninth nationally, and averages 4.4 blocks per sport, forty fourth within the nation.
In different phrases, Wright State has typically out-muscled Horizon League groups. The Raiders drive the ball, end by way of contact, and defend the paint on the opposite finish. In their league, they’ve typically been the enforcer.
That is the a part of the matchup I preserve coming again to, as a result of Virginia will not be constructed like the typical first-round opponent. UVA enters the event as the perfect shot-blocking staff within the nation. Johann Grünloh is 7-foot and averages 2.2 blocks per sport. Ugonna Onyenso can be 7-foot and leads the ACC at 3.0 blocks per sport. As a staff, Virginia leads the NCAA with 6.5 blocks per sport and is second within the ACC in rebounding at 40.2.
So, if the query is whether or not Wright State can preserve doing what it often does across the rim, the reply might be not. Wright State’s identification has been constructed partially on superior dimension and physicality on the mid-major stage. However, Virginia might be the perfect geared up staff within the nation to fight this fashion of sport plan.
We have seen some proof of that in opposition to higher competitors. Wright State misplaced 94-69 at Butler, 77-67 at California, and 83-76 at residence to Miami (OH). Those outcomes don’t imply the Raiders are fraudulent. They do counsel that when the extent of dimension and athleticism rises, the margin for error will get thinner.
And that’s the actual story of this sport. Wright State will not be a traditional Cinderella that survives on weirdness. It survives on fundamentals and power. The downside is that Virginia has the precise type of entrance line that may take these benefits away. When Imariagbe rolls, posts, or assaults the glass, he’s operating into two professional 7-foot shot blockers. When Pickett tries to erase issues on the rim, he’s now contesting ACC dimension as a substitute of Horizon dimension.
That is why this matchup appears higher for Virginia than the seed line alone would possibly counsel. Wright State’s strengths occur to line up with areas the place UVA is already robust. The Cavaliers are first within the ACC in blocks, second in rebounding, second in field-goal proportion protection at 39.5 %, third in scoring protection at 68.4 factors allowed, and third in three-point protection at 30.9 %. This is a protection constructed to shut out on shooters and funnel drivers towards the dual towers of Grünloh and Onyenso.
That doesn’t suggest Virginia can chill out. Wright State nonetheless has sufficient shot-making to make the sport uncomfortable. Burch averages 2.6 steals per sport and may pace up a possession or spark a run. Cooper can get scorching. Callaghan and Pangonis each shoot nicely sufficient that over-helping turns into harmful. If Virginia will get sloppy with the ball or lets Wright State settle in from three, this could flip into a type of depressing NCAA Tournament afternoons Cavalier followers know all too nicely.
Still, this looks like a sport that must be determined by the place the ground shrinks. Wright State needs to play by way of contact, end on the rim, and use its dimension to set the tone. Virginia is uniquely positioned to take that away. And, in contrast to some UVA groups of the previous, this one will not be asking its protection to hold an anemic offense. The Cavaliers common 80.9 factors per sport, rank fourth within the ACC in assists, and have a number of methods to attain. Thijs De Ridder leads the staff at 15.5 factors per sport, Dallin Hall runs the offense at 4.3 assists per sport, and Virginia is taking pictures 35.9 % from three as a staff.
So, sure, Wright State is sweet sufficient to be taken significantly. A staff that scores 80 a sport, shoots higher than 36 % from three, and arrives with confidence ought to by no means be dismissed in March. But this matchup is hard for the Raiders in a really particular means. What has made them look large and forceful within the Horizon League could not look almost as imposing when the again line is Grünloh and Onyenso.
