Cavaliers to refocus on rebounding

One of former Virginia coach Dave Leitao’s favorite things to do in practice used to be a boxing-out drill that looked closer to ultimate fighting than basketball. In the drill, two players competed for a rebound and were allowed to do pretty much anything to each other in the process until a whistle blew. Leitao used to say that the exercise separated the men from the boys.

In the wake of Virginia’s performance on the glass against N.C. State on Saturday night, current coach Tony Bennett would be wise to run a similar drill when his team returns to practice today at John Paul Jones Arena.

UVa was outrebounded by the Wolfpack 42-25, including an 18-5 margin on the offensive end. N.C. State had 17 second-chance points to Virginia’s seven.

The fact that the Cavaliers still found a way to squeak out a 61-60 win was a minor miracle.

“We got demolished on the boards, plain and simple,” said Virginia guard Jontel Evans. “Those guys are physical and athletic and they crushed us on the boards.

“We have to get back in practice and do a lot of rebound drills and just get tougher.”

N.C. State forward Richard Howell looked like the second coming of Dennis Rodman in grabbing 18 rebounds.

“It upsets us because we have to do better than that,” said Virginia forward Akil Mitchell. “We’ve go to do better than that. No matter how athletic a team is, we have to do a better job collective rebounding. That’s stuff we work on every day and it’s just unacceptable.”

Part of the issue was that Mitchell and Darion Atkins got into foul trouble early in the game. That forced Virginia into its four-guard lineup in which Joe Harris plays the “4.”

“They were just really aggressive and really physical,” said Mitchell, who had just one rebound in 16 minutes. “They got into our bodies. They were just all over the boards. They have a big, athletic team.

“We’re a little bit more undersized now without Assane [Sene]. They really attacked us on the glass and we just struggled to finish off some plays.”

Bennett, whose 19th-ranked team hosts Clemson on Tuesday night, seemed embarrassed. Defensive rebounding is supposed to be one of his system’s staples.

Virginia had outrebounded opponents in 12 of its previous 14 games.

“I don’t know if we were a little soggy or a little soft upstairs...,” said Bennett, when asked about the uncharacteristic performance. “I told our guys we better get back to what we do or it will be trouble.”