Virginia coach Lars Tiffany knew he was going to have an unusually large amount of time on his hands early this month. His Cavaliers (10-4) played their regular-season finale April 24 against Syracuse. They won’t play again until May 15 or 16.
So he got to thinking about who else goes three weeks or so between big games. Then he made use of the campus resources at his disposal.
A conversation with Virginia football coach Bronco Mendenhall has helped Tiffany map out how to handle what will be one of the Cavaliers’ longest stretches without a game in the NCAA tournament era. Virginia went 21 days without playing heading into the 1980, 1995, 1996 and 1999 tournaments and 22 days prior to the 1997 postseason.
This year’s gap will be 21 or 22 days. Mendenhall’s team went 23 days between the ACC title game and the Orange Bowl in 2019.
“He’s done this 14 times as a head coach at BYU and Virginia, three or four weeks to get ready for a big game,” Tiffany said. “He’s very well thought out and very deliberate with his actions and decision making, and there I was, the fortunate recipient of 15 years of experience. Essentially, he gave me much of his template. We’ve adapted it, obviously, because it’s a different sport. But it was tremendously helpful walking out of his office armed with this proven formula.”
Mendenhall’s bowl plan involved little-to-no practice work during the first week, opting instead for running and lifting sessions. The actual game prep began only a couple days earlier than usual, something Tiffany plans to incorporate.
“If I hadn’t talked to Bronco, we might have been doing everything last week starting on Tuesday, because that’s what us coaches [think] — this coach, I should say, and I think a lot of other coaches,” Tiffany said. “Why do it 100 times? Because 99 isn’t enough. Just keep doing it. More reps, more reps, more reps. It was really good to talk to Bronco. He said, ‘Lars, you’ve done this for three months. I think you’re at the point where more’s not better, necessarily.
Tiffany approached the three-week stretch with four objectives: To become faster, more skilled, healthier and more united as a team.
He also pegged two specific areas he believes Virginia needs more work on and is prioritizing them this week. That includes two days emphasizing end-of-game situations (including one in pads) and an added emphasis on the riding game, something his teams at Brown and Virginia have usually done well.
“We’ve had decent riding, but not to the caliber of measuring ourselves against ourselves of past years,” Tiffany said. “It gives us a chance to return to really, really working with our ride and see if we can create the turnovers and the pressure we have in the past. Those are the areas we need to need to work on. Others may say ‘Tiffany, I’ve seen your man-down defense,’ and they’re probably right, too. But those are two areas that don’t get enough attention during a normal game week that we can do now.”
Virginia will likely land a mid-range seed — something in the No. 4 to No. 6 range — when the NCAA tournament field is announced Sunday. With victories over North Carolina and Notre Dame, the Cavaliers have played better in the second half of the season.
Even with a significant faceoff disparity the last time out against Syracuse, Virginia was still competitive deep into the game. The season arc somewhat reminds Tiffany of two years ago, when the Cavaliers won the national title after taking a couple early losses.
“I look at that [Syracuse] game and say, ‘We lost by two, but it was minus-21 possessions, so those other phases and how other players are playing — we’re still coming along,’” Tiffany said. “We didn’t have a total collapse. I saw this in 2019, where we started picking up steam and won some games early in the year and we started to play at a higher level and we started clicking. We took a step back against Duke in 2019 in the regular season but then started flowing. I felt that happening again this year from mid-March on.”
Drexel’s gut check
Drexel received its toughest test in more than a month Saturday, and there’s a case to be made the Dragons’ 12-11 defeat of Towson was the best thing that could have happened to them heading into the CAA tournament.
Jack Mulcahy’s goal with 11 seconds to go capped a comeback from a four-goal deficit in the final 16 minutes. That was the largest hole Drexel had faced during its seven-game winning streak and was also the first time it trailed in the fourth quarter during that stretch.
“We’re riding really high right now, and we’re super-confident in ourselves,” Mulcahy said. “We feel like we can play with anyone, and with a comeback win like this, that fuels our fire even more. It lets us know we’re ready to play in tough situations, so we’re looking forward to the playoffs.
The Dragons (8-2, 6-2 CAA) are the No. 2 seed in this week’s CAA tournament in Hempstead, N.Y., and will face third-seeded UMass (4-5, 4-4) on Thursday. Top-seeded Delaware (10-2, 7-1) and fourth-seeded Hofstra (7-5, 4-4) will meet in the first semifinal.
Drexel’s winning streak includes victories over each of the other five teams in the CAA and is also their longest since taking nine in a row in 2014. That stretch included two in the CAA tournament and one against Penn in the program’s only NCAA tournament appearance to date.
“We’re excited to be in the CAA playoffs, but that’s not our goal,” coach Brian Voelker said. “Our goal is to win this thing, and obviously everything goes out the window now. We have to prepare really hard for a game on Thursday against a really good team and we have to show up and play our best. I know the seniors and leaders on this team have done a good job of keeping guys motivated.”