The Virginia men’s basketball team started its season with a pair of in-state contests and a 1-1 record. This season’s first Double Bonus article takes a closer look at the showdown with No. 14 VCU after the Rams won 59-56 on Tuesday.

Handling Havoc

One of the main questions entering the game with Virginia Commonwealth was how would UVa handle Havoc? Havoc, of course, is VCU’s trade name for its in-your-face, end-to-end defensive style. VCU got a couple of traps early, one of the side and one on the baseline but UVa got the ball out of both. The Hoos helped neutralize Havoc by keeping the ball out of the preferred trapping spots. I think it’s fair to say that overall Virginia had mixed results against the varying pressure looks.

First, let’s look at just the raw data. The Cavaliers committed 19 turnovers with 9 of those coming on VCU steals. The Rams scored 20 points off turnovers on the night. Overall, UVa shot just 39.1% as it struggled to get good shots at times against the halfcourt Havoc that features in-your-face defense. Many of the issues came late as the Hoos missed two lay-ups and committed 6 turnovers (roughly 1/3 of the 19 total) in the final 10 minutes. Of course, much of that would look different if the Cavs simply had made some free throws (19 of 33 for the game).

Beyond the boxscore, the story gets a little trickier because VCU uses different tactics within the Havoc mantra. The Rams rotate use of fullcourt man to man with no traps, fullcourt man to man with a halfcourt trap, fullcourt man to man with a sprinting back-tip steal attempt, fullcourt zone pressure (1-2-1-1), a halfcourt scramble trap, and straight-up halfcourt man to man.

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