Bucknell is going to have to figure out a way to handle No. 6 Virginia’s relentless pressure on Tuesday night in Charlottesville, Va.
The Cavaliers (3-0) have collected 41 steals and scored 71 points off their opponents’ turnovers in their first three games.
Virginia also knocked down 34 of their attempts from 3-point range while beating Drexel, Northeastern and No. 12 Arkansas by a combined 73 points.
The Cavaliers had 12 triples and 11 steals and outscored the Razorbacks 24-6 in points off turnovers on Sunday to deliver a 91-72 victory at the Capital Showcase in Washington, D.C. Virginia led by as many as 27 points and outrebounded Arkansas 40-36 with 19 offensive rebounds.
“Give them credit,” Razorbacks coach John Calipari said. “Don’t look at us like we’re awful. We’re not awful.”
The big leads have allowed Virginia to go to the bench and keep starters fresh during a busy start. Tuesday’s game will be the Cavaliers’ fourth in eight days.
“We’re asking them to do a lot of things,” Virginia coach Ryan Odom said. “We’re asking them to press. We’re asking them to crash. We’re asking them to play transition defense, and pick and roll, and share the ball, and all these different things, and play fast, and it can be tiring.”
Preseason ACC Player of the Year Thijs De Ridder posted a double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds) against Arkansas and averages 18.7 points — tied for the team lead with Sam Lewis — and a team-high 8.3 rebounds.
Chance Mallory averages 14.3 points and leads the team in assists (14) and steals (10). Johann Grunloh adds 13.0 points and 5.7 rebounds per game and has a team-high eight blocked shots.
Eight different Cavaliers have made at least one 3-pointer already this season, including five players with at least five.
Virginia is 18-1 at home and 16-2 against nonconference opponents under Odom, who is in his second season with the program.
Bucknell (0-2) was outscored by 49 points and outrebounded by 49 (91-42) in last week’s losses to Maryland and Old Dominion. The opponents combined to shoot 49.2% from the field and 40.7% (24 of 59) from 3-point distance.
“(Against) Maryland, I thought we played 18 minutes of connected basketball and tonight I thought we played around 27 minutes. This is going to be our work in progress,” head coach John Griffin said after the loss to Old Dominion. “I think we have to go one step at a time in this journey of improvement.”
The Bison were tied 43-43 with less than 13 minutes to play against the Monarchs before fading in Saturday’s 82-62 home loss in Lewisburg, Pa.
Bucknell is coming off a 10-23 season and hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2018. The Bison were picked to finish sixth in the 10-team Patriot League in the preseason poll.
Aleksander Pachucki (17.0 points per game), Luca Soroa Schaller (12.0) and Rocco Lamuno (10.0) lead the team in scoring after two games. Pachucki is shooting 47.6% (10 of 21) from 3-point range and Lamuno is 10-for-10 at the free-throw line.
Bucknell is looking for its first win against a Top 25 opponent since beating No. 17 Syracuse at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 22, 2005.
–Field Level Media
