CHARLOTTESVILLE — In the shadows of coaching legends — salute, Tony Bennett and Jim Boeheim — Ryan Odom and Adrian Autry took over troubled national-championship basketball programs.
Each was intimately familiar with the community and institution, Odom from his formative youth, Autry from his playing and assistant-coaching days. Each was charged with competing in the ACC.
But there was one extra-large difference: Odom had 11 years of head-coaching experience, Autry none. And with that foundation, Odom had a ready-made staff prepared to navigate the sport’s new age. Autry did not.
And it shows.
Which brings us to Saturday at John Paul Jones Arena, where No. 18 Virginia defeated Syracuse 72-59.
The difference wasn’t the starting fives. The difference was depth.
Each Orange starter logged at least 30 minutes. No Cavaliers starter played 30 minutes.
Four Syracuse reserves combined for seven points, five rebounds, one assist and no steals. Five UVA reserves combined for 29 points, 16 rebounds, 11 assists and six steals.
“We call ourselves the Bench Mob,” Jacari White said after contributing eight points, three assists and two steals off the bench.
Bench Mob. How good is that? White credited fellow reserve Devin Tillis with the label, and with Odom settled into a starting group of forwards Thijs De Ridder and Johann Grunloh, plus guards Malik Thomas, Dallin Hall and Sam Lewis (team-high 16 points Saturday), the Bench Mob has consistent membership.
Tillis and 7-footer Ugonna Onyenso man the frontcourt, White and freshman Chance Mallory the backcourt. And Saturday, there was even seldom-used wing Martin Carrere, who in a first-half cameo threw down a two-handed dunk.
“It’s something we take pride in every game,” White said. “When we come in, we bring the energy — either lift it up or maintain from what the starters are bringing. … It’s something we enjoy.”
Onyenso was the ringleader Saturday with 10 points, eight rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals. Moreover, when Syracuse narrowed UVA’s lead to 65-59, he and Mallory closed the deal.
First, Mallory hit a right-wing 3 off a De Ridder assist. Unyenso then dunked off a Mallory lob before following his own miss with a stick-back.
Ranked third nationally at KenPom in offensive rebound percentage, the Cavaliers outscored the Orange 17-7 in second points, 17-8 in points off turnovers, margins that Autry called decisive.
“We got tired a couple of times in the first half and didn’t handle it very well,” Odom said. “We were walking the ball up the court too much.”
That’s the beauty of depth. When someone gets fatigued, there’s a teammate ready to step in, with little to no drop-off in production or energy.
More than halfway through his debut season in Charlottesville, Odom, the son of former UVA assistant and Wake Forest head coach Dave Odom, has the Cavaliers at 20-3 overall, 9-2 in the conference and on track for a top-four regional seed in the NCAA Tournament. It’s a stark contrast to Bennett’s final season, when UVA flamed out in the First Four, and last year’s sub-.500 finish under interim Ron Sanchez.
This is Autry’s third season since Syracuse nudged Boeheim into retirement, and barring an unexpected late surge, this will be the fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament that the Orange (13-11, 4-7) watch from afar, an unheard-of gap for a program that Boeheim coached to 35 bids in 47 years.
Not since the early 1970s, when the tournament included only 36 teams, has Syracuse endured such an extended absence.
By any metric, this Orange edition is ordinary, despite the presence of gifted scorers Donnie Freeman and JJ Starling. And when Freeman, the team’s top scorer at 18 points per game, endures an afternoon such as Saturday — hounded by De Ridder and Tillis, he finished with a season-low five points on 2-of-11 shooting — Syracuse is toast.
Perhaps, unlike Odom, Autry, a former Orange player and assistant, does not have the payroll needed to assemble the depth and experience required to compete at the high-major level. Or, maybe he wasn’t ready to become a power conference head coach. Perhaps both.
Virginia is far from flawless — its 3-point shooting is average — but resources and coaching aren’t concerns.
Up next for the Cavaliers is a Tuesday clash at Florida State, where rookie head coach Luke Loucks, a former NBA assistant, has the Seminoles playing faster than any ACC team. One antidote to pace is depth.
“We play for one another,” Onyenso said. “Our depth is something different. It doesn’t matter who starts, we’re really good. It’s all about the connection we have as a group, and that’s been a big part what we’ve done and where we’re headed to.”
David Teel, david.teel@virginiamedia.com
https://www.pilotonline.com/2026/02/07/david-teel-bench-mob-carries-no-18-virginia-over-syracuse/
