CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Ryan Odom has worked intentionally to instill his Virginia basketball team with a respect and appreciation for the program’s former players and coaches.

Understanding the Cavaliers’ rivalry with Virginia Tech occurred more organically.

“We know it’s a big game,” guard Jacari White, a transfer from North Dakota State, said after Tuesday’s win over Wake Forest. “We know what it means to the people here. We just want to carry that going into the next game.”

German center Johann Grunloh said he was introduced to the Commonwealth Clash watching the teams’ football game on television.

“It was, not bad blood, but you kind of felt it that there was a heated situation in there,” Grunloh said. “I think it’s going to be a great game. We’re fired up especially after that triple overtime loss against them in their building.”

Grunloh and White are two of 10 players who played their first games for UVA this season — seven transfers, two international imports and freshman Chance Mallory, who is from Charlottesville.

Other than Mallory, that group was largely unfamiliar with the rivalry. But they learned quickly.

UVA opened ACC play with a 95-85 triple-overtime loss against the Hokies in Blacksburg on Dec. 31.

Tech freshman center Christian Gurdak’s uncontested dunk with four seconds left forced the second overtime, and UVA’s Chance Mallory’s buzzer-beating tip-in forced the third extra period.

“They understand it now that they’ve played in Cassell in a triple overtime game,” Odom, a former Virginia Tech assistant, said. “They have a feel for the respect the two fanbases have, but the extreme desire to win that both have as well.”

The two teams have split their annual meetings each of the past four seasons and Odom is hoping that trend continues Saturday, when UVA hosts the Hokies at noon at John Paul Jones Arena.

“It’s going to be a different game,” Odom said. “Virginia Tech’s different. We’re different at this point. We’re certainly going to have to be ready to go.”

UVA played the first meeting Tech without White, who fractured his wrist dunking against Maryland on Dec. 20. White returned to action Jan. 13 against Louisville. Tuesday’s win over Wake Forest, in which he scored 14 points, was the first game he’s played since the injury without some form of cast or brace on his wrist.

The Hokies played the first contest against UVA without wing Tyler Johnson. That was the first of a stretch of 15 games Johnson missed with an undisclosed injury. He returned to the court Saturday, playing two minutes at North Carolina. In Tech’s 72-63 home win over Boston College on Tuesday, Johnson played nine minutes, knocking down a 3-pointer and grabbing three rebounds.

“He looked more like himself today. He was tough. He was guarding the ball. He was more free today,” Hokies coach Mike Young said. “… He will play more on Saturday in Charlottesville. We’ll need him on Saturday in Charlottesville.”

Young knows that the Hokies still have resume work to do if they’re going to make their first NCAA Tournament since 2021-22. UVA, on the other hand, has clinched the No. 2 seed in next week’s ACC tournament in Charlotte and is safely in the NCAA field. Most experts project the Cavaliers to be a 4-seed.

“It’s a huge accomplishment,” Odom said. “You think back to June, nobody outside of the locker room thought we had a chance to finish second. And probably, at that point, nobody inside the locker room knew if we had a chance to do that.”