Texas hosts Virginia in important non-conference matchup

For the first time in two weeks, the Texas Longhorns are back at the Moody Center on Wednesday, hosting the Virginia Cavaliers in the ACC/SEC Challenge in the only significant home matchup of the non-conference schedule for first-year head coach Sean Miller.

Emerging from last Wednesday’s win over then-No. 23 North Carolina State, Texas secured its first Quad 1 win of the season in shortening the rotation and developing an overall blueprint for how these Longhorns can be successful

Does that blueprint require taking 32 threes and making 16 of them? In the Maui Invitational it did, as Texas gave up 97 points to NC State, continuing a hot streak that started in the second half against Chaminade as multiple players broke out of early-season slumps, most notably senior guard Jordan Pope, who scored 28 points on 7-of-13 shooting from distance.

“We have a number of different guys that could shoot better than they maybe started off this season,” Miller said during a Monday press conference.

Put senior guard Chendall Weaver into that category, too, although some sample size caveats apply to the UTA transfer who hit 40.2 percent as a freshman for the Mavericks on 82 attempts before seeing his shot volume drop precipitously as a sophomore on the Forty Acres before his playing time was limited last year by injury — over the last two-plus years, he still hasn’t taken as many threes as he did in his debut season.

And his 1-of-13 start to the season belied the hard work Weaver put in during the offseason prior to hitting 3-of-5 attempts against the Wolfpack to close out the trip to Hawaii.

Miller consistently praises Weaver’s day-to-day work ethic that should translate into an effective three-point shooting percentage as the season progresses but will certainly translate into effective defensive that will allow Texas to push the pace offensively to help Pope find threes from the wing in transition — in the win over NC State, Weaver notched eight rebounds, all caroms off the defensive glass, as the Horns scored 24 points on the break.

It’s a team effort in both areas, to be sure, but Weaver’s 24.2-percent defensive rebounding rate is just a shade behind graduate forward Lassina Traore’s team-leading 25.8 percent and better than sophomore center Matas Vokietaitis’ 18.7 percent.

“Chendall, at his size, may be the best rebounder that I’ve seen — his ability to get a defensive rebound in traffic, big rebounds, ones that our team needs, and then take that rebound and convert it into a transition opportunity, whether it be for him or our team, is, I think, one of the one of the several or many things that I think our team is doing well right now,” Miller said.

One of the most surprising developments in Maui was sophomore forward Nic Codie not just dropping out of the starting lineup in the final tuneup before heading to Hawaii, but also falling out of the rotation entirely against NC State.

“Nic Codie is a young player that we believe in, but his effort level, his attitude, his daily disposition, his competitive spirit, all have to improve,” Miller said.

It’s a searing indictment of a skilled player who is losing minutes to junior forward Cam Heide, who allows the Longhorns to more effectively space the court while giving up two inches in height.

How Codie responds behind the scenes may not have a big impact on the rotation against Virginia, but it does set up a critical finish to non-conference play because Texas has limited frontcourt depth with forward John Clark and center Lewis Obiorah both planning to redshirt as freshmen.

Whether Codie is involved or not, the focus of the defensive game plan for the Longhorns will be on Cavaliers forward Thijs De Ridder, a 6’9, 238-pound Belgian who arrived in Charlottesville as a 22-year-old experienced professional who was named one of the top young bigs in the Belgian Liga ACB this year.

Going against less mature players has worked well for De Ridder so far — he’s averaging 18 points and 5.6 rebounds per game while shooting 44.4 percent from three-point range, though he doesn’t take a lot of attempts from beyond the arc.

“He’s experienced. He’s seasoned. Plays the right way, very smart. And I believe this — I think he’s one of the best freshmen that’s playing college basketball, and he makes Virginia a lot better as a team,” Miller said.

De Ridder hasn’t just feasted on weak competition like NC Central, either.

In the win over Northwestern, he scored a season-high 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the floor and 8-of-9 shooting from the free-throw line with eight rebounds. It wasn’t a clean effort, though, as the talented Belgian committed three turnovers and fouled out in 27 minutes.

Fortunately for the Cavaliers, first-year head coach Ryan Odom can use 7’0, 238-pound German freshman center against Vokietaitis instead of De Ridder, but the two-wing lineups employed by Miller in Maui could force De Ridder to defend Longhorns junior wing Dailyn Swain off the bounce or to contest threes by Heide, very different challenges.

Virginia also presents challenges to Texas as one of the most efficient teams offensively, ranking 13th in adjusted efficiency, fueled by extra possessions as the nation’s best offensive rebounding team thanks to size that allows the Cavaliers to avoid blocked shots on their own shot attempts and block them at the second-highest rate defensively.

“We’re playing a very good team, we’re playing them at home — it’s a big game for our season and for our team,” Miller said.

Tip is at 8:15 p.m. Central on ESPNU with the Horns holding a 60-percent win probability on BartTorvik.com.