CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Virginia continued to do its part Saturday in rewriting the narrative surrounding ACC basketball.
Ignited by Jacari White’s unprecedented 3-point binge, UVA posted its third quality nonconference victory of the young season, defeating Dayton 86-73 at the Charlotte Hornets’ arena.
The Cavaliers committed 21 turnovers against the Flyers’ pressure defense, their most since February 2009 against Duke (23), but White’s game-high 25 points saved them.
“It was just one of those performances where every time he was open and he had (the ball), you could hear the crowd going, ‘Yes!’ ” Virginia coach Ryan Odom said. “He hadn’t made the shot yet, but you knew that he was probably going to knock it in.
“He’s in amazing company now with Kyle Guy. It’s a pleasure to coach Jacari, and when he gets in a zone like that, as his coach, it’s like, ‘Stay out there. How long can I leave him out there before he gets tired?’ ”
The Most Outstanding Player of the 2019 Final Four, Guy ranks among the most storied long-range shooters in program history, and his six made 3-pointers in a game without a miss were the UVA standard. White did him one better Saturday, making all seven of his attempts beyond the arc, and both of his shots from two-point range, for a spotless 9-for-9 line.
His seven made 3s without a miss ties the ACC’s single-game record, set many times, and over the past three games, he has matched Guy’s school record of 11 consecutive made 3s.
White transferred from North Dakota State, where he scored 1,089 points in three years and averaged 17.1 last season. He said the only game that compares to Saturday was last December at Butler, where he made seven of nine 3-pointers and scored 27 points.
“The ball seemed to find me when it needed to and I was knocking down the shots,” White said.
“He’s really elite at finding windows and getting to his spots,” teammate Dallin Hall said. “I don’t feel bad for the other team because we’ve been having to guard that all (offseason).”
UVA guard Dallin Hall dribbles against Dayton’s pressure defense in Cavaliers’ 86-73 victory. (UVA Athletics photo)
White’s most important shot came late in the second half after Dayton (7-3) had scored 14 straight points to draw within 74-67. Chance Mallory rebounded Thijs De Ridder’s errant shot and passed to Hall, who found White open on the right wing in front of Virginia’s bench.
“It was huge, and you could see it,” Odom said of the 5-foot-10 Mallory’s rebound. “He had position there. I had a pretty good view (of) it, and he just skied up and got it. That’s what he does. He’s a warrior and he finds a way to impact the game whether he’s playing lights out or having a subpar game. He finds a way to win.”
The modest crowd of 4,175 was boisterous and very orange, a mere opening act for UVA faithful poised to head across town for the ACC football championship game against Duke later in the evening.
Virginia and Dayton agreed to this neutral-site game long before football season, long before the prospect of the Cavaliers reaching the title contest became viable. But the basketball-football doubleheader, in a pro sports town accessible to legions of UVA fans, made for an epic Saturday.
The Cavaliers (8-1) were three days removed from their loudest statement of the season, an 88-69 road rout of Texas in the ACC/SEC Challenge. The Longhorns had averaged 101 points in their four most recent games, and the Cavaliers pestered them into 4-of-19 shooting beyond the 3-point arc.
A perennial Atlantic 10 contender, Dayton offered another test, especially with its defense. Steered by Anthony Grant, like Odom a former VCU coach, the Flyers own overtime victories over the Big East’s Georgetown and Marquette, and they extended Brigham Young deep into the second half before losing by four points.
“Their pressure is obviously very, very good,” Odom said. “They do it to most teams, and they did it to us tonight. We had just enough positive plays on offense.”
The Cavaliers began the day No. 14 in the NET rankings and No. 23 KenPom, among eight ACC teams in the top 50 of both metrics, joining Duke, Louisville, Clemson, North Carolina, NC State, Miami and SMU.
At this stage of last season, only five of the league’s 18 squads were top 50, and come Selection Sunday, four made the NCAA Tournament, embarrassing representation for the sport’s most storied conference.
Compounding the misery, a record 14 SEC teams reached the tournament, and Florida won the league’s first national championship since Kentucky in 2012. The head-to-head between the conferences was just as one-sided as the SEC went 30-4 against the ACC, 14-2 in their annual Challenge.
This season, the Southern heavyweights are true peers, with the SEC winning the Challenge 9-7 and sporting a 14-12 mark against the ACC overall.
Virginia has defeated Northwestern, Texas and Dayton, and Odom believes the Flyers are in the same class as the Wildcats and Longhorns.
“They play with a chip on their shoulder,” he said. “They are high-major. They are a high-major program that expects to win every game. For us to play against an opponent like that and have that type of pressure put on us will pay dividends for us in the long run.”
David Teel, david.teel@virginiamedia.com
